Systems and methods for providing search interface with contextual suggestions

ABSTRACT

Systems and processes for providing a virtual assistant service are provided. In accordance with one or more examples, a method includes receiving, from an accessory device communicatively coupled to the first electronic device, a representation of a speech input representing a user request. The method further includes detecting a second electronic device and transmitting, from the first electronic device, a representation of the user request and data associated with the detected second electronic device to a third electronic device. The method further includes receiving, from the third electronic device, a determination of whether a task is to be performed by the second electronic device in accordance with the user request; and in accordance with a determination that a task is to be performed by the second electronic device, requesting the second electronic device to performed the task in accordance with the user request.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.16/119,576, entitled “VIRTUAL ASSISTANT OPERATION IN MULTI-DEVICEENVIRONMENTS,” filed on Aug. 31, 2018, which claims priority to U.S.Provisional Application Ser. No. 62/679,660, entitled “VIRTUAL ASSISTANTOPERATION IN MULTI-DEVICE ENVIRONMENTS,” filed on Jun. 1, 2018, thecontents of which are hereby incorporated by reference in theirentirety.

FIELD

The present disclosure relates generally to natural language processingand, more specifically, to operating one or more virtual assistants in amulti-device environment.

BACKGROUND

Digital assistants (or virtual assistants or intelligent automatedassistants) can provide a beneficial human-machine interface. Suchassistants can allow users to interact with devices or systems usingnatural language in spoken and/or text forms. For example, a user canprovide a speech input containing a user request to a digital assistantoperating on an electronic device. The virtual assistant can interpretthe user's intent from the speech input and operationalize the user'sintent into tasks. The tasks can then be performed by executing one ormore services of the electronic device, and a relevant output responsiveto the user request can be returned to the user.

A user may have one or more virtual-assistant capable electronic devicesand may use an accessory device to communicate with the one or morevirtual-assistant capable electronic devices. An accessory device caninclude a single piece or multiple pieces (e.g., a headphone that hastwo ear pieces for the left and right ears). When a user invokes avirtual assistant through an accessory device such as a headphone, theremay be ambiguity as to which virtual-assistant capable electronic devicethe user is intended to use because the accessory device may beconnected, or potentially connected, to multiple virtual-assistantcapable electronic devices (e.g., a wearable device, a smartphone,tablet computer, etc.). Moreover, a particular virtual-assistant capableelectronic device connected to the accessory device may not be able toperform the required task. As an example, an accessory device may becommunicatively connected to a smartphone, but not a wearable device(e.g., a smartwatch). The user may request to start a workout, which isa request to start a workout on the wearable device, but not thesmartphone. It would be desirable to determine the user intent and routethe request to the wearable device to carry out the task without furtheruser input to connect to the wearable device. Therefore, techniques thatdisambiguate the user's speech input received at an accessory device todetermine which virtual-assistant capable electronic device the userintended to use, and techniques that intelligently routing the userrequest to a device that is capable of performing the requested task,are desired.

BRIEF SUMMARY

Existing techniques for invoking a virtual assistant operating on anelectronic device through an accessory device typically requires theuser's manual and explicit input to select the specific electronicdevice. For example, an accessory device may be connected to avirtual-assistant capable electronic device, but the particularvirtual-assistant capable electronic device may not be able to performthe task the user requests (e.g., the particular virtual-assistantcapable electronic device does not have a required sensor or applicationto perform the task). As a result, the user may be required toexplicitly or manually select a virtual-assistant capable electronicdevice and then invoke the virtual assistant operating on thatparticular electronic device to perform the task. This is cumbersome andsometimes impractical or impossible (e.g., when the user is driving,performing sports activities, or otherwise incapable of orinconvenienced by having to manually invoke a virtual assistant at adesired electronic device).

Using the techniques described in this application, the user's speechinput (or a representation thereof) to invoke a virtual assistant and toperform certain tasks can be received for intelligently andautomatically selecting a particular electronic device among multipledevices for performing the task. Based on the selection, a command canbe generated and intelligently and effectively routed to a particularelectronic device that is capable or suitable to perform the requestedtasks. The intelligent routing can be performed even if the particularelectronic device is not communicatively coupled to the accessory devicedirectly. The techniques described in this application thus provide animproved and more efficient human-machine interface by reducing oreliminating the burden for a user to manually or explicitly select adevice for performing a task. The techniques thus improve the efficiencyand the user-experience of a human-machine interface, and enhance theoperability of the devices. This in turn reduces power usage andimproves battery life of the accessory device and the electronic devicesby enabling the user to use the devices more quickly and efficiently.

Systems and processes for providing a virtual assistant service areprovided. In accordance with one or more examples, a method is performedat a first electronic device with one or more processors and memory andincludes receiving, from an accessory device communicatively coupled tothe first electronic device, a representation of a speech inputrepresenting a user request. The method further includes detecting asecond electronic device and transmitting, from the first electronicdevice, a representation of the user request and data associated withthe detected second electronic device to a third electronic device. Themethod further includes receiving, from the third electronic device, adetermination of whether a task is to be performed by the secondelectronic device in accordance with the user request; and in accordancewith a determination that a task is to be performed by the secondelectronic device, requesting the second electronic device to performedthe task in accordance with the user request.

Systems and processes for disambiguating a speech input are provided. Inaccordance with one or more examples, a method is performed at anaccessory device communicatively coupled to at least one of a firstelectronic device and a second electronic device and includes receivinga speech input representing a user request. The method further includesin response to receiving the speech input, determining whether thespeech input includes a trigger phrase; and in accordance with adetermination that the speech input includes a trigger phrase, obtaininga determination of whether a representation of the speech input is to betransmitted to the first electronic device or the second electronicdevice. The method further includes in accordance with a determinationthat the representation of the speech input is to be transmitted to thefirst electronic device but not the second electronic device,transmitting the representation of the speech input to the firstelectronic device; receiving audio data corresponding to performing atask in accordance with the user request; and outputting the receivedaudio data.

Executable instructions for performing these functions are, optionally,included in a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium or othercomputer program product configured for execution by one or moreprocessors. Executable instructions for performing these functions are,optionally, included in a transitory computer-readable storage medium orother computer program product configured for execution by one or moreprocessors.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For a better understanding of the various described embodiments,reference should be made to the Description of Embodiments below, inconjunction with the following drawings in which like reference numeralsrefer to corresponding parts throughout the figures.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a system and environment forimplementing a digital assistant according to various examples.

FIG. 2A is a block diagram illustrating a portable multifunction deviceimplementing the client-side portion of a digital assistant inaccordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 2B is a block diagram illustrating exemplary components for eventhandling according to various examples.

FIG. 3 illustrates a portable multifunction device implementing theclient-side portion of a digital assistant according to variousexamples.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of an exemplary multifunction device with adisplay and a touch-sensitive surface according to various examples.

FIG. 5A illustrates an exemplary user interface for a menu ofapplications on a portable multifunction device according to variousexamples.

FIG. 5B illustrates an exemplary user interface for a multifunctiondevice with a touch-sensitive surface that is separate from the displayaccording to various examples.

FIG. 6A illustrates a personal electronic device according to variousexamples.

FIG. 6B is a block diagram illustrating a personal electronic deviceaccording to various examples.

FIG. 7A is a block diagram illustrating a digital assistant system or aserver portion thereof according to various examples.

FIG. 7B illustrates the functions of the digital assistant shown in FIG.7A according to various examples.

FIG. 7C illustrates a portion of an ontology according to variousexamples.

FIGS. 8A-8C illustrate functionalities of providing virtual assistantservices in response to a speech input received at an accessory device,according to various examples.

FIG. 8D illustrates an exemplary data flow between devices for providingvirtual assistant services.

FIGS. 9A-9C illustrate examples of invoking a virtual assistant at oneof multiple virtual-assistant capable electronic devices based on aspeech input received at an accessory device, according to variousexamples.

FIGS. 10A-10B illustrate functionalities of providing virtual assistantservices based on one or more statuses of electronic devices, accordingto various examples.

FIG. 11 illustrates functionalities of providing virtual assistantservices in response to a speech input received at an accessory device,according to various examples.

FIG. 12 illustrates functionalities of providing virtual assistantservices at one of multiple electronic devices in response to a speechinput received at an accessory device, according to various examples.

FIGS. 13A-13B illustrate a flow diagram of an exemplary process forproviding virtual assistant services according to various examples.

FIGS. 14A-14C illustrate a flow diagram of an exemplary process fordisambiguating a speech input according to various examples.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the following description of the disclosure and embodiments,reference is made to the accompanying drawings, in which it is shown byway of illustration, of specific embodiments that can be practiced. Itis to be understood that other embodiments and examples can bepracticed, and changes can be made without departing from the scope ofthe disclosure.

Techniques for invoking a virtual assistant operating on an electronicdevice based on speech input from an accessory device are desirable. Asdescribed herein, the user's speech input (or a representation thereof)to invoke a virtual assistant to perform certain tasks can be receivedfrom an accessory device for intelligently and automatically selecting aparticular electronic device among multiple devices for performing thetask. Based on the selection, a command can be generated andintelligently and effectively routed to a particular electronic devicethat is capable or suitable to perform the requested tasks. Theintelligent routing can be performed even if the particular electronicdevice is not communicatively coupled to the accessory device directly.The techniques described in this application thus reduce or eliminatethe burden for a user to manually or explicitly select a device forperforming a task, improve the efficiency and user-experience of ahuman-machine interface, and enhance the operability of the devices.This in turn reduces power usage and improves battery life of theaccessory device and the electronic devices by enabling the user to usethe devices more quickly and efficiently.

Although the following description uses the terms “first,” “second,”etc., to describe various elements, these elements should not be limitedby the terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one element fromanother. For example, a first electronic device could be termed a secondelectronic device and, similarly, a second electronic device could betermed a first electronic device, without departing from the scope ofthe various described examples. The first electronic device and thesecond electronic device can both be electronic devices and, in somecases, can be separate and different electronic devices.

The terminology used in the description of the various describedexamples herein is for the purpose of describing particular examplesonly and is not intended to be limiting. As used in the description ofthe various described examples and the appended claims, the singularforms “a,” “an,” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms aswell, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will also beunderstood that the term “and/or” as used herein refers to andencompasses any and all possible combinations of one or more of theassociated listed items. It will be further understood that the terms“includes,” “including,” “comprises,” and/or “comprising,” when used inthis specification, specify the presence of stated features, integers,steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude thepresence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps,operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof.

The term “if” may be construed to mean “when” or “upon” or “in responseto determining” or “in response to detecting,” depending on the context.Similarly, the phrase “if it is determined” or “if [a stated conditionor event] is detected” may be construed to mean “upon determining” or“in response to determining” or “upon detecting [the stated condition orevent]” or “in response to detecting [the stated condition or event],”depending on the context.

1. System and Environment

FIG. 1 illustrates a block diagram of system 100 according to variousexamples. In some examples, system 100 implements a digital assistant.The terms “digital assistant,” “virtual assistant,” “intelligentautomated assistant,” or “automatic digital assistant” refer to anyinformation processing system that interprets natural language input inspoken and/or textual form to infer user intent, and performs actionsbased on the inferred user intent. For example, to act on an inferreduser intent, the system performs one or more of the following:identifying a task flow with steps and parameters designed to accomplishthe inferred user intent, inputting specific requirements from theinferred user intent into the task flow; executing the task flow byinvoking programs, methods, services, APIs, or the like; and generatingoutput responses to the user in an audible (e.g., speech) and/or visualform.

Specifically, a digital assistant is capable of accepting a user requestat least partially in the form of a natural language command, request,statement, narrative, and/or inquiry. Typically, the user request seekseither an informational answer or performance of a task by the digitalassistant. A satisfactory response to the user request includes aprovision of the requested informational answer, a performance of therequested task, or a combination of the two. For example, a user asksthe digital assistant a question, such as “Where am I right now?” Basedon the user's current location, the digital assistant answers, “You arein Central Park near the west gate.” The user also requests theperformance of a task, for example, “Please invite my friends to mygirlfriend's birthday party next week.” In response, the digitalassistant can acknowledge the request by saying “Yes, right away,” andthen send a suitable calendar invite on behalf of the user to each ofthe user's friends listed in the user's electronic address book. Duringperformance of a requested task, the digital assistant sometimesinteracts with the user in a continuous dialogue involving multipleexchanges of information over an extended period of time. There arenumerous other ways of interacting with a digital assistant to requestinformation or performance of various tasks. In addition to providingverbal responses and taking programmed actions, the digital assistantalso provides responses in other visual or audio forms, e.g., as text,alerts, music, videos, animations, etc.

As shown in FIG. 1 , in some examples, a digital assistant isimplemented according to a client-server model. The digital assistantincludes client-side portion 102 (hereafter “DA client 102”) executed onuser device 104 and server-side portion 106 (hereafter “DA server 106”)executed on server system 108. DA client 102 communicates with DA server106 through one or more networks 110. DA client 102 provides client-sidefunctionalities such as user-facing input and output processing andcommunication with DA server 106. DA server 106 provides server-sidefunctionalities for any number of DA clients 102 each residing on arespective user device 104.

In some examples, DA server 106 includes client-facing I/O interface112, one or more processing modules 114, data and models 116, and I/Ointerface to external services 118. The client-facing I/O interface 112facilitates the client-facing input and output processing for DA server106. One or more processing modules 114 utilize data and models 116 toprocess speech input and determine the user's intent based on naturallanguage input. Further, one or more processing modules 114 perform taskexecution based on inferred user intent. In some examples, DA server 106communicates with external services 120 through network(s) 110 for taskcompletion or information acquisition. I/O interface to externalservices 118 facilitates such communications.

User device 104 can be any suitable electronic device. In some examples,user device 104 is a portable multifunctional device (e.g., device 200,described below with reference to FIG. 2A), a multifunctional device(e.g., device 400, described below with reference to FIG. 4 ), or apersonal electronic device (e.g., device 600, described below withreference to FIG. 6A-6B.) A portable multifunctional device is, forexample, a mobile telephone that also contains other functions, such asPDA and/or music player functions. Specific examples of portablemultifunction devices include the Apple Watch®, iPhone®, iPod Touch®,and iPad® devices from Apple Inc. of Cupertino, Calif. Other examples ofportable multifunction devices include, without limitation,earphones/headphones, speakers, and laptop or tablet computers. Further,in some examples, user device 104 is a non-portable multifunctionaldevice. In particular, user device 104 is a desktop computer, a gameconsole, a speaker, a television, or a television set-top box. In someexamples, user device 104 includes a touch-sensitive surface (e.g.,touch screen displays and/or touchpads). Further, user device 104optionally includes one or more other physical user-interface devices,such as a physical keyboard, a mouse, and/or a joystick. Variousexamples of electronic devices, such as multifunctional devices, aredescribed below in greater detail.

Examples of communication network(s) 110 include local area networks(LAN) and wide area networks (WAN), e.g., the Internet. Communicationnetwork(s) 110 is implemented using any known network protocol,including various wired or wireless protocols, such as, for example,Ethernet, Universal Serial Bus (USB), FIREWIRE, Global System for MobileCommunications (GSM), Enhanced Data GSM Environment (EDGE), codedivision multiple access (CDMA), time division multiple access (TDMA),Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), Wi-MAX, or anyother suitable communication protocol.

Server system 108 is implemented on one or more standalone dataprocessing apparatus or a distributed network of computers. In someexamples, server system 108 also employs various virtual devices and/orservices of third-party service providers (e.g., third-party cloudservice providers) to provide the underlying computing resources and/orinfrastructure resources of server system 108.

In some examples, user device 104 communicates with DA server 106 viasecond user device 122. Second user device 122 is similar or identicalto user device 104. For example, second user device 122 is similar todevices 200, 400, or 600 described below with reference to FIGS. 2A, 4,and 6A-6B. User device 104 is configured to communicatively couple tosecond user device 122 via a direct communication connection, such asBluetooth, NFC, BTLE, or the like, or via a wired or wireless network,such as a local Wi-Fi network. In some examples, second user device 122is configured to act as a proxy between user device 104 and DA server106. For example, DA client 102 of user device 104 is configured totransmit information (e.g., a user request received at user device 104)to DA server 106 via second user device 122. DA server 106 processes theinformation and returns relevant data (e.g., data content responsive tothe user request) to user device 104 via second user device 122.

In some examples, user device 104 is configured to communicateabbreviated requests for data to second user device 122 to reduce theamount of information transmitted from user device 104. Second userdevice 122 is configured to determine supplemental information to add tothe abbreviated request to generate a complete request to transmit to DAserver 106. This system architecture can advantageously allow userdevice 104 having limited communication capabilities and/or limitedbattery power (e.g., a watch or a similar compact electronic device) toaccess services provided by DA server 106 by using second user device122, having greater communication capabilities and/or battery power(e.g., a mobile phone, laptop computer, tablet computer, or the like),as a proxy to DA server 106. While only two user devices 104 and 122 areshown in FIG. 1 , it should be appreciated that system 100, in someexamples, includes any number and type of user devices configured inthis proxy configuration to communicate with DA server system 106.

Although the digital assistant shown in FIG. 1 includes both aclient-side portion (e.g., DA client 102) and a server-side portion(e.g., DA server 106), in some examples, the functions of a digitalassistant are implemented as a standalone application installed on auser device. In addition, the divisions of functionalities between theclient and server portions of the digital assistant can vary indifferent implementations. For instance, in some examples, the DA clientis a thin-client that provides only user-facing input and outputprocessing functions, and delegates all other functionalities of thedigital assistant to a backend server.

2. Electronic Devices

Attention is now directed toward embodiments of electronic devices forimplementing the client-side portion of a digital assistant. FIG. 2A isa block diagram illustrating portable multifunction device 200 withtouch-sensitive display system 212 in accordance with some embodiments.Touch-sensitive display 212 is sometimes called a “touch screen” forconvenience and is sometimes known as or called a “touch-sensitivedisplay system.” Device 200 includes memory 202 (which optionallyincludes one or more computer-readable storage mediums), memorycontroller 222, one or more processing units (CPUs) 220, peripheralsinterface 218, RF circuitry 208, audio circuitry 210, speaker 211,microphone 213, input/output (I/O) subsystem 206, other input controldevices 216, and external port 224. Device 200 optionally includes oneor more optical sensors 264. Device 200 optionally includes one or morecontact intensity sensors 265 for detecting intensity of contacts ondevice 200 (e.g., a touch-sensitive surface such as touch-sensitivedisplay system 212 of device 200). Device 200 optionally includes one ormore tactile output generators 267 for generating tactile outputs ondevice 200 (e.g., generating tactile outputs on a touch-sensitivesurface such as touch-sensitive display system 212 of device 200 ortouchpad 455 of device 400). These components optionally communicateover one or more communication buses or signal lines 203.

As used in the specification and claims, the term “intensity” of acontact on a touch-sensitive surface refers to the force or pressure(force per unit area) of a contact (e.g., a finger contact) on thetouch-sensitive surface, or to a substitute (proxy) for the force orpressure of a contact on the touch-sensitive surface. The intensity of acontact has a range of values that includes at least four distinctvalues and more typically includes hundreds of distinct values (e.g., atleast 256). Intensity of a contact is, optionally, determined (ormeasured) using various approaches and various sensors or combinationsof sensors. For example, one or more force sensors underneath oradjacent to the touch-sensitive surface are, optionally, used to measureforce at various points on the touch-sensitive surface. In someimplementations, force measurements from multiple force sensors arecombined (e.g., a weighted average) to determine an estimated force of acontact. Similarly, a pressure-sensitive tip of a stylus is, optionally,used to determine a pressure of the stylus on the touch-sensitivesurface. Alternatively, the size of the contact area detected on thetouch-sensitive surface and/or changes thereto, the capacitance of thetouch-sensitive surface proximate to the contact and/or changes thereto,and/or the resistance of the touch-sensitive surface proximate to thecontact and/or changes thereto are, optionally, used as a substitute forthe force or pressure of the contact on the touch-sensitive surface. Insome implementations, the substitute measurements for contact force orpressure are used directly to determine whether an intensity thresholdhas been exceeded (e.g., the intensity threshold is described in unitscorresponding to the substitute measurements). In some implementations,the substitute measurements for contact force or pressure are convertedto an estimated force or pressure, and the estimated force or pressureis used to determine whether an intensity threshold has been exceeded(e.g., the intensity threshold is a pressure threshold measured in unitsof pressure). Using the intensity of a contact as an attribute of a userinput allows for user access to additional device functionality that mayotherwise not be accessible by the user on a reduced-size device withlimited real estate for displaying affordances (e.g., on atouch-sensitive display) and/or receiving user input (e.g., via atouch-sensitive display, a touch-sensitive surface, or aphysical/mechanical control such as a knob or a button).

As used in the specification and claims, the term “tactile output”refers to physical displacement of a device relative to a previousposition of the device, physical displacement of a component (e.g., atouch-sensitive surface) of a device relative to another component(e.g., housing) of the device, or displacement of the component relativeto a center of mass of the device that will be detected by a user withthe user's sense of touch. For example, in situations where the deviceor the component of the device is in contact with a surface of a userthat is sensitive to touch (e.g., a finger, palm, or other part of auser's hand), the tactile output generated by the physical displacementwill be interpreted by the user as a tactile sensation corresponding toa perceived change in physical characteristics of the device or thecomponent of the device. For example, movement of a touch-sensitivesurface (e.g., a touch-sensitive display or trackpad) is, optionally,interpreted by the user as a “down click” or “up click” of a physicalactuator button. In some cases, a user will feel a tactile sensationsuch as an “down click” or “up click” even when there is no movement ofa physical actuator button associated with the touch-sensitive surfacethat is physically pressed (e.g., displaced) by the user's movements. Asanother example, movement of the touch-sensitive surface is, optionally,interpreted or sensed by the user as “roughness” of the touch-sensitivesurface, even when there is no change in smoothness of thetouch-sensitive surface. While such interpretations of touch by a userwill be subject to the individualized sensory perceptions of the user,there are many sensory perceptions of touch that are common to a largemajority of users. Thus, when a tactile output is described ascorresponding to a particular sensory perception of a user (e.g., an “upclick,” a “down click,” “roughness”), unless otherwise stated, thegenerated tactile output corresponds to physical displacement of thedevice or a component thereof that will generate the described sensoryperception for a typical (or average) user.

It should be appreciated that device 200 is only one example of aportable multifunction device, and that device 200 optionally has moreor fewer components than shown, optionally combines two or morecomponents, or optionally has a different configuration or arrangementof the components. The various components shown in FIG. 2A areimplemented in hardware, software, or a combination of both hardware andsoftware, including one or more signal processing and/orapplication-specific integrated circuits.

Memory 202 includes one or more computer-readable storage mediums. Thecomputer-readable storage mediums are, for example, tangible andnon-transitory. Memory 202 includes high-speed random access memory andalso includes non-volatile memory, such as one or more magnetic diskstorage devices, flash memory devices, or other non-volatile solid-statememory devices. Memory controller 222 controls access to memory 202 byother components of device 200.

In some examples, a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium ofmemory 202 is used to store instructions (e.g., for performing aspectsof processes described below) for use by or in connection with aninstruction execution system, apparatus, or device, such as acomputer-based system, processor-containing system, or other system thatcan fetch the instructions from the instruction execution system,apparatus, or device and execute the instructions. In other examples,the instructions (e.g., for performing aspects of the processesdescribed below) are stored on a non-transitory computer-readablestorage medium (not shown) of the server system 108 or are dividedbetween the non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of memory202 and the non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of serversystem 108.

Peripherals interface 218 is used to couple input and output peripheralsof the device to CPU 220 and memory 202. The one or more processors 220run or execute various software programs and/or sets of instructionsstored in memory 202 to perform various functions for device 200 and toprocess data. In some embodiments, peripherals interface 218, CPU 220,and memory controller 222 are implemented on a single chip, such as chip204. In some other embodiments, they are implemented on separate chips.

RF (radio frequency) circuitry 208 receives and sends RF signals, alsocalled electromagnetic signals. RF circuitry 208 converts electricalsignals to/from electromagnetic signals and communicates withcommunications networks and other communications devices via theelectromagnetic signals. RF circuitry 208 optionally includes well-knowncircuitry for performing these functions, including but not limited toan antenna system, an RF transceiver, one or more amplifiers, a tuner,one or more oscillators, a digital signal processor, a CODEC chipset, asubscriber identity module (SIM) card, memory, and so forth. RFcircuitry 208 optionally communicates with networks, such as theInternet, also referred to as the World Wide Web (WWW), an intranetand/or a wireless network, such as a cellular telephone network, awireless local area network (LAN) and/or a metropolitan area network(MAN), and other devices by wireless communication. The RF circuitry 208optionally includes well-known circuitry for detecting near fieldcommunication (NFC) fields, such as by a short-range communicationradio. The wireless communication optionally uses any of a plurality ofcommunications standards, protocols, and technologies, including but notlimited to Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), Enhanced DataGSM Environment (EDGE), high-speed downlink packet access (HSDPA),high-speed uplink packet access (HSUPA), Evolution, Data-Only (EV-DO),HSPA, HSPA+, Dual-Cell HSPA (DC-HSPDA), long term evolution (LTE), nearfield communication (NFC), wideband code division multiple access(W-CDMA), code division multiple access (CDMA), time division multipleaccess (TDMA), Bluetooth, Bluetooth Low Energy (BTLE), Wireless Fidelity(Wi-Fi) (e.g., IEEE 802.11a, IEEE 802.11b, IEEE 802.11g, IEEE 802.11n,and/or IEEE 802.11ac), voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), Wi-MAX, aprotocol for e mail (e.g., Internet message access protocol (IMAP)and/or post office protocol (POP)), instant messaging (e.g., extensiblemessaging and presence protocol (XMPP), Session Initiation Protocol forInstant Messaging and Presence Leveraging Extensions (SIMPLE), InstantMessaging and Presence Service (IMPS)), and/or Short Message Service(SMS), or any other suitable communication protocol, includingcommunication protocols not yet developed as of the filing date of thisdocument.

Audio circuitry 210, speaker 211, and microphone 213 provide an audiointerface between a user and device 200. Audio circuitry 210 receivesaudio data from peripherals interface 218, converts the audio data to anelectrical signal, and transmits the electrical signal to speaker 211.Speaker 211 converts the electrical signal to human-audible sound waves.Audio circuitry 210 also receives electrical signals converted bymicrophone 213 from sound waves. Audio circuitry 210 converts theelectrical signal to audio data and transmits the audio data toperipherals interface 218 for processing. Audio data are retrieved fromand/or transmitted to memory 202 and/or RF circuitry 208 by peripheralsinterface 218. In some embodiments, audio circuitry 210 also includes aheadset jack (e.g., 312, FIG. 3 ). The headset jack provides aninterface between audio circuitry 210 and removable audio input/outputperipherals, such as output-only headphones or a headset with bothoutput (e.g., a headphone for one or both ears) and input (e.g., amicrophone).

I/O subsystem 206 couples input/output peripherals on device 200, suchas touch screen 212 and other input control devices 216, to peripheralsinterface 218. I/O subsystem 206 optionally includes display controller256, optical sensor controller 258, intensity sensor controller 259,haptic feedback controller 261, and one or more input controllers 260for other input or control devices. The one or more input controllers260 receive/send electrical signals from/to other input control devices216. The other input control devices 216 optionally include physicalbuttons (e.g., push buttons, rocker buttons, etc.), dials, sliderswitches, joysticks, click wheels, and so forth. In some alternateembodiments, input controller(s) 260 are, optionally, coupled to any (ornone) of the following: a keyboard, an infrared port, a USB port, and apointer device such as a mouse. The one or more buttons (e.g., 308, FIG.3 ) optionally include an up/down button for volume control of speaker211 and/or microphone 213. The one or more buttons optionally include apush button (e.g., 306, FIG. 3 ).

A quick press of the push button disengages a lock of touch screen 212or begin a process that uses gestures on the touch screen to unlock thedevice, as described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/322,549,“Unlocking a Device by Performing Gestures on an Unlock Image,” filedDec. 23, 2005, U.S. Pat. No. 7,657,849, which is hereby incorporated byreference in its entirety. A longer press of the push button (e.g., 306)turns power to device 200 on or off. The user is able to customize afunctionality of one or more of the buttons. Touch screen 212 is used toimplement virtual or soft buttons and one or more soft keyboards.

Touch-sensitive display 212 provides an input interface and an outputinterface between the device and a user. Display controller 256 receivesand/or sends electrical signals from/to touch screen 212. Touch screen212 displays visual output to the user. The visual output includesgraphics, text, icons, video, and any combination thereof (collectivelytermed “graphics”). In some embodiments, some or all of the visualoutput correspond to user-interface objects.

Touch screen 212 has a touch-sensitive surface, sensor, or set ofsensors that accepts input from the user based on haptic and/or tactilecontact. Touch screen 212 and display controller 256 (along with anyassociated modules and/or sets of instructions in memory 202) detectcontact (and any movement or breaking of the contact) on touch screen212 and convert the detected contact into interaction withuser-interface objects (e.g., one or more soft keys, icons, web pages,or images) that are displayed on touch screen 212. In an exemplaryembodiment, a point of contact between touch screen 212 and the usercorresponds to a finger of the user.

Touch screen 212 uses LCD (liquid crystal display) technology, LPD(light emitting polymer display) technology, or LED (light emittingdiode) technology, although other display technologies may be used inother embodiments. Touch screen 212 and display controller 256 detectcontact and any movement or breaking thereof using any of a plurality oftouch sensing technologies now known or later developed, including butnot limited to capacitive, resistive, infrared, and surface acousticwave technologies, as well as other proximity sensor arrays or otherelements for determining one or more points of contact with touch screen212. In an exemplary embodiment, projected mutual capacitance sensingtechnology is used, such as that found in the iPhone® and iPod Touch®from Apple Inc. of Cupertino, Calif.

A touch-sensitive display in some embodiments of touch screen 212 isanalogous to the multi-touch sensitive touchpads described in thefollowing U.S. Pat. No. 6,323,846 (Westerman et al.), U.S. Pat. No.6,570,557 (Westerman et al.), and/or U.S. Pat. No. 6,677,932(Westerman), and/or U.S. Patent Publication 2002/0015024A1, each ofwhich is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. However,touch screen 212 displays visual output from device 200, whereastouch-sensitive touchpads do not provide visual output.

A touch-sensitive display in some embodiments of touch screen 212 is asdescribed in the following applications: (1) U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 11/381,313, “Multipoint Touch Surface Controller,” filed May 2,2006; (2) U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/840,862, “MultipointTouchscreen,” filed May 6, 2004; (3) U.S. patent application Ser. No.10/903,964, “Gestures For Touch Sensitive Input Devices,” filed Jul. 30,2004; (4) U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/048,264, “Gestures ForTouch Sensitive Input Devices,” filed Jan. 31, 2005; (5) U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 11/038,590, “Mode-Based Graphical User InterfacesFor Touch Sensitive Input Devices,” filed Jan. 18, 2005; (6) U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 11/228,758, “Virtual Input Device Placement On ATouch Screen User Interface,” filed Sep. 16, 2005; (7) U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 11/228,700, “Operation Of A Computer With A TouchScreen Interface,” filed Sep. 16, 2005; (8) U.S. patent application Ser.No. 11/228,737, “Activating Virtual Keys Of A Touch-Screen VirtualKeyboard,” filed Sep. 16, 2005; and (9) U.S. patent application Ser. No.11/367,749, “Multi-Functional Hand-Held Device,” filed Mar. 3, 2006. Allof these applications are incorporated by reference herein in theirentirety.

Touch screen 212 has, for example, a video resolution in excess of 100dpi. In some embodiments, the touch screen has a video resolution ofapproximately 160 dpi. The user makes contact with touch screen 212using any suitable object or appendage, such as a stylus, a finger, andso forth. In some embodiments, the user interface is designed to workprimarily with finger-based contacts and gestures, which can be lessprecise than stylus-based input due to the larger area of contact of afinger on the touch screen. In some embodiments, the device translatesthe rough finger-based input into a precise pointer/cursor position orcommand for performing the actions desired by the user.

In some embodiments, in addition to the touch screen, device 200includes a touchpad (not shown) for activating or deactivatingparticular functions. In some embodiments, the touchpad is atouch-sensitive area of the device that, unlike the touch screen, doesnot display visual output. The touchpad is a touch-sensitive surfacethat is separate from touch screen 212 or an extension of thetouch-sensitive surface formed by the touch screen.

Device 200 also includes power system 262 for powering the variouscomponents. Power system 262 includes a power management system, one ormore power sources (e.g., battery, alternating current (AC)), arecharging system, a power failure detection circuit, a power converteror inverter, a power status indicator (e.g., a light-emitting diode(LED)) and any other components associated with the generation,management and distribution of power in portable devices.

Device 200 also includes one or more optical sensors 264. FIG. 2A showsan optical sensor coupled to optical sensor controller 258 in I/Osubsystem 206. Optical sensor 264 includes charge-coupled device (CCD)or complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) phototransistors.Optical sensor 264 receives light from the environment, projectedthrough one or more lenses, and converts the light to data representingan image. In conjunction with imaging module 243 (also called a cameramodule), optical sensor 264 captures still images or video. In someembodiments, an optical sensor is located on the back of device 200,opposite touch screen display 212 on the front of the device so that thetouch screen display is used as a viewfinder for still and/or videoimage acquisition. In some embodiments, an optical sensor is located onthe front of the device so that the user's image is obtained for videoconferencing while the user views the other video conferenceparticipants on the touch screen display. In some embodiments, theposition of optical sensor 264 can be changed by the user (e.g., byrotating the lens and the sensor in the device housing) so that a singleoptical sensor 264 is used along with the touch screen display for bothvideo conferencing and still and/or video image acquisition.

Device 200 optionally also includes one or more contact intensitysensors 265. FIG. 2A shows a contact intensity sensor coupled tointensity sensor controller 259 in I/O subsystem 206. Contact intensitysensor 265 optionally includes one or more piezoresistive strain gauges,capacitive force sensors, electric force sensors, piezoelectric forcesensors, optical force sensors, capacitive touch-sensitive surfaces, orother intensity sensors (e.g., sensors used to measure the force (orpressure) of a contact on a touch-sensitive surface). Contact intensitysensor 265 receives contact intensity information (e.g., pressureinformation or a proxy for pressure information) from the environment.In some embodiments, at least one contact intensity sensor is collocatedwith, or proximate to, a touch-sensitive surface (e.g., touch-sensitivedisplay system 212). In some embodiments, at least one contact intensitysensor is located on the back of device 200, opposite touch screendisplay 212, which is located on the front of device 200.

Device 200 also includes one or more proximity sensors 266. FIG. 2Ashows proximity sensor 266 coupled to peripherals interface 218.Alternately, proximity sensor 266 is coupled to input controller 260 inI/O subsystem 206. Proximity sensor 266 is performed as described inU.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/241,839, “Proximity Detector InHandheld Device”; Ser. No. 11/240,788, “Proximity Detector In HandheldDevice”; Ser. No. 11/620,702, “Using Ambient Light Sensor To AugmentProximity Sensor Output”; Ser. No. 11/586,862, “Automated Response ToAnd Sensing Of User Activity In Portable Devices”; and Ser. No.11/638,251, “Methods And Systems For Automatic Configuration OfPeripherals,” which are hereby incorporated by reference in theirentirety. In some embodiments, the proximity sensor turns off anddisables touch screen 212 when the multifunction device is placed nearthe user's ear (e.g., when the user is making a phone call).

Device 200 optionally also includes one or more tactile outputgenerators 267. FIG. 2A shows a tactile output generator coupled tohaptic feedback controller 261 in I/O subsystem 206. Tactile outputgenerator 267 optionally includes one or more electroacoustic devicessuch as speakers or other audio components and/or electromechanicaldevices that convert energy into linear motion such as a motor,solenoid, electroactive polymer, piezoelectric actuator, electrostaticactuator, or other tactile output generating component (e.g., acomponent that converts electrical signals into tactile outputs on thedevice). Contact intensity sensor 265 receives tactile feedbackgeneration instructions from haptic feedback module 233 and generatestactile outputs on device 200 that are capable of being sensed by a userof device 200. In some embodiments, at least one tactile outputgenerator is collocated with, or proximate to, a touch-sensitive surface(e.g., touch-sensitive display system 212) and, optionally, generates atactile output by moving the touch-sensitive surface vertically (e.g.,in/out of a surface of device 200) or laterally (e.g., back and forth inthe same plane as a surface of device 200). In some embodiments, atleast one tactile output generator sensor is located on the back ofdevice 200, opposite touch screen display 212, which is located on thefront of device 200.

Device 200 also includes one or more accelerometers 268. FIG. 2A showsaccelerometer 268 coupled to peripherals interface 218. Alternately,accelerometer 268 is coupled to an input controller 260 in I/O subsystem206. Accelerometer 268 performs, for example, as described in U.S.Patent Publication No. 20050190059, “Acceleration-based Theft DetectionSystem for Portable Electronic Devices,” and U.S. Patent Publication No.20060017692, “Methods And Apparatuses For Operating A Portable DeviceBased On An Accelerometer,” both of which are incorporated by referenceherein in their entirety. In some embodiments, information is displayedon the touch screen display in a portrait view or a landscape view basedon an analysis of data received from the one or more accelerometers.Device 200 optionally includes, in addition to accelerometer(s) 268, amagnetometer (not shown) and a GPS (or GLONASS or other globalnavigation system) receiver (not shown) for obtaining informationconcerning the location and orientation (e.g., portrait or landscape) ofdevice 200.

In some embodiments, the software components stored in memory 202include operating system 226, communication module (or set ofinstructions) 228, contact/motion module (or set of instructions) 230,graphics module (or set of instructions) 232, text input module (or setof instructions) 234, Global Positioning System (GPS) module (or set ofinstructions) 235, Digital Assistant Client Module 229, and applications(or sets of instructions) 236. Further, memory 202 stores data andmodels, such as user data and models 231. Furthermore, in someembodiments, memory 202 (FIG. 2A) or 470 (FIG. 4 ) stores device/globalinternal state 257, as shown in FIGS. 2A and 4 . Device/global internalstate 257 includes one or more of: active application state, indicatingwhich applications, if any, are currently active; display state,indicating what applications, views or other information occupy variousregions of touch screen display 212; sensor state, including informationobtained from the device's various sensors and input control devices216; and location information concerning the device's location and/orattitude.

Operating system 226 (e.g., Darwin, RTXC, LINUX, UNIX, OS X, iOS,WINDOWS, or an embedded operating system such as VxWorks) includesvarious software components and/or drivers for controlling and managinggeneral system tasks (e.g., memory management, storage device control,power management, etc.) and facilitates communication between varioushardware and software components.

Communication module 228 facilitates communication with other devicesover one or more external ports 224 and also includes various softwarecomponents for handling data received by RF circuitry 208 and/orexternal port 224. External port 224 (e.g., Universal Serial Bus (USB),FIREWIRE, etc.) is adapted for coupling directly to other devices orindirectly over a network (e.g., the Internet, wireless LAN, etc.). Insome embodiments, the external port is a multi-pin (e.g., 30-pin)connector that is the same as, or similar to and/or compatible with, the30-pin connector used on iPod® (trademark of Apple Inc.) devices.

Contact/motion module 230 optionally detects contact with touch screen212 (in conjunction with display controller 256) and othertouch-sensitive devices (e.g., a touchpad or physical click wheel).Contact/motion module 230 includes various software components forperforming various operations related to detection of contact, such asdetermining if contact has occurred (e.g., detecting a finger-downevent), determining an intensity of the contact (e.g., the force orpressure of the contact or a substitute for the force or pressure of thecontact), determining if there is movement of the contact and trackingthe movement across the touch-sensitive surface (e.g., detecting one ormore finger-dragging events), and determining if the contact has ceased(e.g., detecting a finger-up event or a break in contact).Contact/motion module 230 receives contact data from the touch-sensitivesurface. Determining movement of the point of contact, which isrepresented by a series of contact data, optionally includes determiningspeed (magnitude), velocity (magnitude and direction), and/or anacceleration (a change in magnitude and/or direction) of the point ofcontact. These operations are, optionally, applied to single contacts(e.g., one finger contacts) or to multiple simultaneous contacts (e.g.,“multitouch”/multiple finger contacts). In some embodiments,contact/motion module 230 and display controller 256 detect contact on atouchpad.

In some embodiments, contact/motion module 230 uses a set of one or moreintensity thresholds to determine whether an operation has beenperformed by a user (e.g., to determine whether a user has “clicked” onan icon). In some embodiments, at least a subset of the intensitythresholds are determined in accordance with software parameters (e.g.,the intensity thresholds are not determined by the activation thresholdsof particular physical actuators and can be adjusted without changingthe physical hardware of device 200). For example, a mouse “click”threshold of a trackpad or touch screen display can be set to any of alarge range of predefined threshold values without changing the trackpador touch screen display hardware. Additionally, in some implementations,a user of the device is provided with software settings for adjustingone or more of the set of intensity thresholds (e.g., by adjustingindividual intensity thresholds and/or by adjusting a plurality ofintensity thresholds at once with a system-level click “intensity”parameter).

Contact/motion module 230 optionally detects a gesture input by a user.Different gestures on the touch-sensitive surface have different contactpatterns (e.g., different motions, timings, and/or intensities ofdetected contacts). Thus, a gesture is, optionally, detected bydetecting a particular contact pattern. For example, detecting a fingertap gesture includes detecting a finger-down event followed by detectinga finger-up (liftoff) event at the same position (or substantially thesame position) as the finger-down event (e.g., at the position of anicon). As another example, detecting a finger swipe gesture on thetouch-sensitive surface includes detecting a finger-down event followedby detecting one or more finger-dragging events, and subsequentlyfollowed by detecting a finger-up (liftoff) event.

Graphics module 232 includes various known software components forrendering and displaying graphics on touch screen 212 or other display,including components for changing the visual impact (e.g., brightness,transparency, saturation, contrast, or other visual property) ofgraphics that are displayed. As used herein, the term “graphics”includes any object that can be displayed to a user, including, withoutlimitation, text, web pages, icons (such as user-interface objectsincluding soft keys), digital images, videos, animations, and the like.

In some embodiments, graphics module 232 stores data representinggraphics to be used. Each graphic is, optionally, assigned acorresponding code. Graphics module 232 receives, from applicationsetc., one or more codes specifying graphics to be displayed along with,if necessary, coordinate data and other graphic property data, and thengenerates screen image data to output to display controller 256.

Haptic feedback module 233 includes various software components forgenerating instructions used by tactile output generator(s) 267 toproduce tactile outputs at one or more locations on device 200 inresponse to user interactions with device 200.

Text input module 234, which is, in some examples, a component ofgraphics module 232, provides soft keyboards for entering text invarious applications (e.g., contacts 237, email 240, IM 241, browser247, and any other application that needs text input).

GPS module 235 determines the location of the device and provides thisinformation for use in various applications (e.g., to telephone 238 foruse in location-based dialing; to camera 243 as picture/video metadata;and to applications that provide location-based services such as weatherwidgets, local yellow page widgets, and map/navigation widgets).

Digital assistant client module 229 includes various client-side digitalassistant instructions to provide the client-side functionalities of thedigital assistant. For example, digital assistant client module 229 iscapable of accepting voice input (e.g., speech input), text input, touchinput, and/or gestural input through various user interfaces (e.g.,microphone 213, accelerometer(s) 268, touch-sensitive display system212, optical sensor(s) 264, other input control devices 216, etc.) ofportable multifunction device 200. Digital assistant client module 229is also capable of providing output in audio (e.g., speech output),visual, and/or tactile forms through various output interfaces (e.g.,speaker 211, touch-sensitive display system 212, tactile outputgenerator(s) 267, etc.) of portable multifunction device 200. Forexample, output is provided as voice, sound, alerts, text messages,menus, graphics, videos, animations, vibrations, and/or combinations oftwo or more of the above. During operation, digital assistant clientmodule 229 communicates with DA server 106 using RF circuitry 208.

User data and models 231 include various data associated with the user(e.g., user-specific vocabulary data, user preference data,user-specified name pronunciations, data from the user's electronicaddress book, to-do lists, shopping lists, etc.) to provide theclient-side functionalities of the digital assistant. Further, user dataand models 231 include various models (e.g., speech recognition models,statistical language models, natural language processing models,ontology, task flow models, service models, etc.) for processing userinput and determining user intent.

In some examples, digital assistant client module 229 utilizes thevarious sensors, subsystems, and peripheral devices of portablemultifunction device 200 to gather additional information from thesurrounding environment of the portable multifunction device 200 toestablish a context associated with a user, the current userinteraction, and/or the current user input. In some examples, digitalassistant client module 229 provides the contextual information or asubset thereof with the user input to DA server 106 to help infer theuser's intent. In some examples, the digital assistant also uses thecontextual information to determine how to prepare and deliver outputsto the user. Contextual information is referred to as context data.

In some examples, the contextual information that accompanies the userinput includes sensor information, e.g., lighting, ambient noise,ambient temperature, images or videos of the surrounding environment,etc. In some examples, the contextual information can also include thephysical state of the device, e.g., device orientation, device location,device temperature, power level, speed, acceleration, motion patterns,cellular signals strength, etc. In some examples, information related tothe software state of DA server 106, e.g., running processes, installedprograms, past and present network activities, background services,error logs, resources usage, etc., and of portable multifunction device200 is provided to DA server 106 as contextual information associatedwith a user input.

In some examples, the digital assistant client module 229 selectivelyprovides information (e.g., user data 231) stored on the portablemultifunction device 200 in response to requests from DA server 106. Insome examples, digital assistant client module 229 also elicitsadditional input from the user via a natural language dialogue or otheruser interfaces upon request by DA server 106. Digital assistant clientmodule 229 passes the additional input to DA server 106 to help DAserver 106 in intent deduction and/or fulfillment of the user's intentexpressed in the user request.

A more detailed description of a digital assistant is described belowwith reference to FIGS. 7A-7C. It should be recognized that digitalassistant client module 229 can include any number of the sub-modules ofdigital assistant module 726 described below.

Applications 236 include the following modules (or sets ofinstructions), or a subset or superset thereof:

-   -   Contacts module 237 (sometimes called an address book or contact        list);    -   Telephone module 238;    -   Video conference module 239;    -   E-mail client module 240;    -   Instant messaging (IM) module 241;    -   Workout support module 242;    -   Camera module 243 for still and/or video images;    -   Image management module 244;    -   Video player module;    -   Music player module;    -   Browser module 247;    -   Calendar module 248;    -   Widget modules 249, which includes, in some examples, one or        more of: weather widget 249-1, stocks widget 249-2, calculator        widget 249-3, alarm clock widget 249-4, dictionary widget 249-5,        and other widgets obtained by the user, as well as user-created        widgets 249-6;    -   Widget creator module 250 for making user-created widgets 249-6;    -   Search module 251;    -   Video and music player module 252, which merges video player        module and music player module;    -   Notes module 253;    -   Map module 254; and/or    -   Online video module 255.

Examples of other applications 236 that are stored in memory 202 includeother word processing applications, other image editing applications,drawing applications, presentation applications, JAVA-enabledapplications, encryption, digital rights management, voice recognition,and voice replication.

In conjunction with touch screen 212, display controller 256,contact/motion module 230, graphics module 232, and text input module234, contacts module 237 are used to manage an address book or contactlist (e.g., stored in application internal state 292 of contacts module237 in memory 202 or memory 470), including: adding name(s) to theaddress book; deleting name(s) from the address book; associatingtelephone number(s), e-mail address(es), physical address(es) or otherinformation with a name; associating an image with a name; categorizingand sorting names; providing telephone numbers or e-mail addresses toinitiate and/or facilitate communications by telephone 238, videoconference module 239, e-mail 240, or IM 241; and so forth.

In conjunction with RF circuitry 208, audio circuitry 210, speaker 211,microphone 213, touch screen 212, display controller 256, contact/motionmodule 230, graphics module 232, and text input module 234, telephonemodule 238 are used to enter a sequence of characters corresponding to atelephone number, access one or more telephone numbers in contactsmodule 237, modify a telephone number that has been entered, dial arespective telephone number, conduct a conversation, and disconnect orhang up when the conversation is completed. As noted above, the wirelesscommunication uses any of a plurality of communications standards,protocols, and technologies.

In conjunction with RF circuitry 208, audio circuitry 210, speaker 211,microphone 213, touch screen 212, display controller 256, optical sensor264, optical sensor controller 258, contact/motion module 230, graphicsmodule 232, text input module 234, contacts module 237, and telephonemodule 238, video conference module 239 includes executable instructionsto initiate, conduct, and terminate a video conference between a userand one or more other participants in accordance with user instructions.

In conjunction with RF circuitry 208, touch screen 212, displaycontroller 256, contact/motion module 230, graphics module 232, and textinput module 234, e-mail client module 240 includes executableinstructions to create, send, receive, and manage e-mail in response touser instructions. In conjunction with image management module 244,e-mail client module 240 makes it very easy to create and send e-mailswith still or video images taken with camera module 243.

In conjunction with RF circuitry 208, touch screen 212, displaycontroller 256, contact/motion module 230, graphics module 232, and textinput module 234, the instant messaging module 241 includes executableinstructions to enter a sequence of characters corresponding to aninstant message, to modify previously entered characters, to transmit arespective instant message (for example, using a Short Message Service(SMS) or Multimedia Message Service (MMS) protocol for telephony-basedinstant messages or using XMPP, SIMPLE, or IMPS for Internet-basedinstant messages), to receive instant messages, and to view receivedinstant messages. In some embodiments, transmitted and/or receivedinstant messages include graphics, photos, audio files, video filesand/or other attachments as are supported in an MMS and/or an EnhancedMessaging Service (EMS). As used herein, “instant messaging” refers toboth telephony-based messages (e.g., messages sent using SMS or MMS) andInternet-based messages (e.g., messages sent using XMPP, SIMPLE, orIMPS).

In conjunction with RF circuitry 208, touch screen 212, displaycontroller 256, contact/motion module 230, graphics module 232, textinput module 234, GPS module 235, map module 254, and music playermodule, workout support module 242 includes executable instructions tocreate workouts (e.g., with time, distance, and/or calorie burninggoals); communicate with workout sensors (sports devices); receiveworkout sensor data; calibrate sensors used to monitor a workout; selectand play music for a workout; and display, store, and transmit workoutdata.

In conjunction with touch screen 212, display controller 256, opticalsensor(s) 264, optical sensor controller 258, contact/motion module 230,graphics module 232, and image management module 244, camera module 243includes executable instructions to capture still images or video(including a video stream) and store them into memory 202, modifycharacteristics of a still image or video, or delete a still image orvideo from memory 202.

In conjunction with touch screen 212, display controller 256,contact/motion module 230, graphics module 232, text input module 234,and camera module 243, image management module 244 includes executableinstructions to arrange, modify (e.g., edit), or otherwise manipulate,label, delete, present (e.g., in a digital slide show or album), andstore still and/or video images.

In conjunction with RF circuitry 208, touch screen 212, displaycontroller 256, contact/motion module 230, graphics module 232, and textinput module 234, browser module 247 includes executable instructions tobrowse the Internet in accordance with user instructions, includingsearching, linking to, receiving, and displaying web pages or portionsthereof, as well as attachments and other files linked to web pages.

In conjunction with RF circuitry 208, touch screen 212, displaycontroller 256, contact/motion module 230, graphics module 232, textinput module 234, e-mail client module 240, and browser module 247,calendar module 248 includes executable instructions to create, display,modify, and store calendars and data associated with calendars (e.g.,calendar entries, to-do lists, etc.) in accordance with userinstructions.

In conjunction with RF circuitry 208, touch screen 212, displaycontroller 256, contact/motion module 230, graphics module 232, textinput module 234, and browser module 247, widget modules 249 aremini-applications that can be downloaded and used by a user (e.g.,weather widget 249-1, stocks widget 249-2, calculator widget 249-3,alarm clock widget 249-4, and dictionary widget 249-5) or created by theuser (e.g., user-created widget 249-6). In some embodiments, a widgetincludes an HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) file, a CSS (CascadingStyle Sheets) file, and a JavaScript file. In some embodiments, a widgetincludes an XML (Extensible Markup Language) file and a JavaScript file(e.g., Yahoo! Widgets).

In conjunction with RF circuitry 208, touch screen 212, displaycontroller 256, contact/motion module 230, graphics module 232, textinput module 234, and browser module 247, the widget creator module 250are used by a user to create widgets (e.g., turning a user-specifiedportion of a web page into a widget).

In conjunction with touch screen 212, display controller 256,contact/motion module 230, graphics module 232, and text input module234, search module 251 includes executable instructions to search fortext, music, sound, image, video, and/or other files in memory 202 thatmatch one or more search criteria (e.g., one or more user-specifiedsearch terms) in accordance with user instructions.

In conjunction with touch screen 212, display controller 256,contact/motion module 230, graphics module 232, audio circuitry 210,speaker 211, RF circuitry 208, and browser module 247, video and musicplayer module 252 includes executable instructions that allow the userto download and play back recorded music and other sound files stored inone or more file formats, such as MP3 or AAC files, and executableinstructions to display, present, or otherwise play back videos (e.g.,on touch screen 212 or on an external, connected display via externalport 224). In some embodiments, device 200 optionally includes thefunctionality of an MP3 player, such as an iPod (trademark of AppleInc.).

In conjunction with touch screen 212, display controller 256,contact/motion module 230, graphics module 232, and text input module234, notes module 253 includes executable instructions to create andmanage notes, to-do lists, and the like in accordance with userinstructions.

In conjunction with RF circuitry 208, touch screen 212, displaycontroller 256, contact/motion module 230, graphics module 232, textinput module 234, GPS module 235, and browser module 247, map module 254are used to receive, display, modify, and store maps and data associatedwith maps (e.g., driving directions, data on stores and other points ofinterest at or near a particular location, and other location-baseddata) in accordance with user instructions.

In conjunction with touch screen 212, display controller 256,contact/motion module 230, graphics module 232, audio circuitry 210,speaker 211, RF circuitry 208, text input module 234, e-mail clientmodule 240, and browser module 247, online video module 255 includesinstructions that allow the user to access, browse, receive (e.g., bystreaming and/or download), play back (e.g., on the touch screen or onan external, connected display via external port 224), send an e-mailwith a link to a particular online video, and otherwise manage onlinevideos in one or more file formats, such as H.264. In some embodiments,instant messaging module 241, rather than e-mail client module 240, isused to send a link to a particular online video. Additional descriptionof the online video application can be found in U.S. Provisional PatentApplication No. 60/936,562, “Portable Multifunction Device, Method, andGraphical User Interface for Playing Online Videos,” filed Jun. 20,2007, and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/968,067, “PortableMultifunction Device, Method, and Graphical User Interface for PlayingOnline Videos,” filed Dec. 31, 2007, the contents of which are herebyincorporated by reference in their entirety.

Each of the above-identified modules and applications corresponds to aset of executable instructions for performing one or more functionsdescribed above and the methods described in this application (e.g., thecomputer-implemented methods and other information processing methodsdescribed herein). These modules (e.g., sets of instructions) need notbe implemented as separate software programs, procedures, or modules,and thus various subsets of these modules can be combined or otherwiserearranged in various embodiments. For example, video player module canbe combined with music player module into a single module (e.g., videoand music player module 252, FIG. 2A). In some embodiments, memory 202stores a subset of the modules and data structures identified above.Furthermore, memory 202 stores additional modules and data structuresnot described above.

In some embodiments, device 200 is a device where operation of apredefined set of functions on the device is performed exclusivelythrough a touch screen and/or a touchpad. By using a touch screen and/ora touchpad as the primary input control device for operation of device200, the number of physical input control devices (such as push buttons,dials, and the like) on device 200 is reduced.

The predefined set of functions that are performed exclusively through atouch screen and/or a touchpad optionally include navigation betweenuser interfaces. In some embodiments, the touchpad, when touched by theuser, navigates device 200 to a main, home, or root menu from any userinterface that is displayed on device 200. In such embodiments, a “menubutton” is implemented using a touchpad. In some other embodiments, themenu button is a physical push button or other physical input controldevice instead of a touchpad.

FIG. 2B is a block diagram illustrating exemplary components for eventhandling in accordance with some embodiments. In some embodiments,memory 202 (FIG. 2A) or 470 (FIG. 4 ) includes event sorter 270 (e.g.,in operating system 226) and a respective application 236-1 (e.g., anyof the aforementioned applications 237-251, 255, 480-490).

Event sorter 270 receives event information and determines theapplication 236-1 and application view 291 of application 236-1 to whichto deliver the event information. Event sorter 270 includes eventmonitor 271 and event dispatcher module 274. In some embodiments,application 236-1 includes application internal state 292, whichindicates the current application view(s) displayed on touch-sensitivedisplay 212 when the application is active or executing. In someembodiments, device/global internal state 257 is used by event sorter270 to determine which application(s) is (are) currently active, andapplication internal state 292 is used by event sorter 270 to determineapplication views 291 to which to deliver event information.

In some embodiments, application internal state 292 includes additionalinformation, such as one or more of: resume information to be used whenapplication 236-1 resumes execution, user interface state informationthat indicates information being displayed or that is ready for displayby application 236-1, a state queue for enabling the user to go back toa prior state or view of application 236-1, and a redo/undo queue ofprevious actions taken by the user.

Event monitor 271 receives event information from peripherals interface218. Event information includes information about a sub-event (e.g., auser touch on touch-sensitive display 212, as part of a multi-touchgesture). Peripherals interface 218 transmits information it receivesfrom I/O subsystem 206 or a sensor, such as proximity sensor 266,accelerometer(s) 268, and/or microphone 213 (through audio circuitry210). Information that peripherals interface 218 receives from I/Osubsystem 206 includes information from touch-sensitive display 212 or atouch-sensitive surface.

In some embodiments, event monitor 271 sends requests to the peripheralsinterface 218 at predetermined intervals. In response, peripheralsinterface 218 transmits event information. In other embodiments,peripherals interface 218 transmits event information only when there isa significant event (e.g., receiving an input above a predeterminednoise threshold and/or for more than a predetermined duration).

In some embodiments, event sorter 270 also includes a hit viewdetermination module 272 and/or an active event recognizer determinationmodule 273.

Hit view determination module 272 provides software procedures fordetermining where a sub-event has taken place within one or more viewswhen touch-sensitive display 212 displays more than one view. Views aremade up of controls and other elements that a user can see on thedisplay.

Another aspect of the user interface associated with an application is aset of views, sometimes herein called application views or userinterface windows, in which information is displayed and touch-basedgestures occur. The application views (of a respective application) inwhich a touch is detected correspond to programmatic levels within aprogrammatic or view hierarchy of the application. For example, thelowest level view in which a touch is detected is called the hit view,and the set of events that are recognized as proper inputs is determinedbased, at least in part, on the hit view of the initial touch thatbegins a touch-based gesture.

Hit view determination module 272 receives information related to subevents of a touch-based gesture. When an application has multiple viewsorganized in a hierarchy, hit view determination module 272 identifies ahit view as the lowest view in the hierarchy which should handle thesub-event. In most circumstances, the hit view is the lowest level viewin which an initiating sub-event occurs (e.g., the first sub-event inthe sequence of sub-events that form an event or potential event). Oncethe hit view is identified by the hit view determination module 272, thehit view typically receives all sub-events related to the same touch orinput source for which it was identified as the hit view.

Active event recognizer determination module 273 determines which viewor views within a view hierarchy should receive a particular sequence ofsub-events. In some embodiments, active event recognizer determinationmodule 273 determines that only the hit view should receive a particularsequence of sub-events. In other embodiments, active event recognizerdetermination module 273 determines that all views that include thephysical location of a sub-event are actively involved views, andtherefore determines that all actively involved views should receive aparticular sequence of sub-events. In other embodiments, even if touchsub-events were entirely confined to the area associated with oneparticular view, views higher in the hierarchy would still remain asactively involved views.

Event dispatcher module 274 dispatches the event information to an eventrecognizer (e.g., event recognizer 280). In embodiments including activeevent recognizer determination module 273, event dispatcher module 274delivers the event information to an event recognizer determined byactive event recognizer determination module 273. In some embodiments,event dispatcher module 274 stores in an event queue the eventinformation, which is retrieved by a respective event receiver 282.

In some embodiments, operating system 226 includes event sorter 270.Alternatively, application 236-1 includes event sorter 270. In yet otherembodiments, event sorter 270 is a stand-alone module, or a part ofanother module stored in memory 202, such as contact/motion module 230.

In some embodiments, application 236-1 includes a plurality of eventhandlers 290 and one or more application views 291, each of whichincludes instructions for handling touch events that occur within arespective view of the application's user interface. Each applicationview 291 of the application 236-1 includes one or more event recognizers280. Typically, a respective application view 291 includes a pluralityof event recognizers 280. In other embodiments, one or more of eventrecognizers 280 are part of a separate module, such as a user interfacekit (not shown) or a higher level object from which application 236-1inherits methods and other properties. In some embodiments, a respectiveevent handler 290 includes one or more of: data updater 276, objectupdater 277, GUI updater 278, and/or event data 279 received from eventsorter 270. Event handler 290 utilizes or calls data updater 276, objectupdater 277, or GUI updater 278 to update the application internal state292. Alternatively, one or more of the application views 291 include oneor more respective event handlers 290. Also, in some embodiments, one ormore of data updater 276, object updater 277, and GUI updater 278 areincluded in a respective application view 291.

A respective event recognizer 280 receives event information (e.g.,event data 279) from event sorter 270 and identifies an event from theevent information. Event recognizer 280 includes event receiver 282 andevent comparator 284. In some embodiments, event recognizer 280 alsoincludes at least a subset of: metadata 283, and event deliveryinstructions 288 (which include sub-event delivery instructions).

Event receiver 282 receives event information from event sorter 270. Theevent information includes information about a sub-event, for example, atouch or a touch movement. Depending on the sub-event, the eventinformation also includes additional information, such as location ofthe sub-event. When the sub-event concerns motion of a touch, the eventinformation also includes speed and direction of the sub-event. In someembodiments, events include rotation of the device from one orientationto another (e.g., from a portrait orientation to a landscapeorientation, or vice versa), and the event information includescorresponding information about the current orientation (also calleddevice attitude) of the device.

Event comparator 284 compares the event information to predefined eventor sub-event definitions and, based on the comparison, determines anevent or sub event, or determines or updates the state of an event orsub-event. In some embodiments, event comparator 284 includes eventdefinitions 286. Event definitions 286 contain definitions of events(e.g., predefined sequences of sub-events), for example, event 1(287-1), event 2 (287-2), and others. In some embodiments, sub-events inan event (287) include, for example, touch begin, touch end, touchmovement, touch cancellation, and multiple touching. In one example, thedefinition for event 1 (287-1) is a double tap on a displayed object.The double tap, for example, comprises a first touch (touch begin) onthe displayed object for a predetermined phase, a first liftoff (touchend) for a predetermined phase, a second touch (touch begin) on thedisplayed object for a predetermined phase, and a second liftoff (touchend) for a predetermined phase. In another example, the definition forevent 2 (287-2) is a dragging on a displayed object. The dragging, forexample, comprises a touch (or contact) on the displayed object for apredetermined phase, a movement of the touch across touch-sensitivedisplay 212, and liftoff of the touch (touch end). In some embodiments,the event also includes information for one or more associated eventhandlers 290.

In some embodiments, event definition 287 includes a definition of anevent for a respective user-interface object. In some embodiments, eventcomparator 284 performs a hit test to determine which user-interfaceobject is associated with a sub-event. For example, in an applicationview in which three user-interface objects are displayed ontouch-sensitive display 212, when a touch is detected on touch-sensitivedisplay 212, event comparator 284 performs a hit test to determine whichof the three user-interface objects is associated with the touch(sub-event). If each displayed object is associated with a respectiveevent handler 290, the event comparator uses the result of the hit testto determine which event handler 290 should be activated. For example,event comparator 284 selects an event handler associated with thesub-event and the object triggering the hit test.

In some embodiments, the definition for a respective event (287) alsoincludes delayed actions that delay delivery of the event informationuntil after it has been determined whether the sequence of sub-eventsdoes or does not correspond to the event recognizer's event type.

When a respective event recognizer 280 determines that the series ofsub-events do not match any of the events in event definitions 286, therespective event recognizer 280 enters an event impossible, eventfailed, or event ended state, after which it disregards subsequentsub-events of the touch-based gesture. In this situation, other eventrecognizers, if any, that remain active for the hit view continue totrack and process sub-events of an ongoing touch-based gesture.

In some embodiments, a respective event recognizer 280 includes metadata283 with configurable properties, flags, and/or lists that indicate howthe event delivery system should perform sub-event delivery to activelyinvolved event recognizers. In some embodiments, metadata 283 includesconfigurable properties, flags, and/or lists that indicate how eventrecognizers interact, or are enabled to interact, with one another. Insome embodiments, metadata 283 includes configurable properties, flags,and/or lists that indicate whether sub-events are delivered to varyinglevels in the view or programmatic hierarchy.

In some embodiments, a respective event recognizer 280 activates eventhandler 290 associated with an event when one or more particularsub-events of an event are recognized. In some embodiments, a respectiveevent recognizer 280 delivers event information associated with theevent to event handler 290. Activating an event handler 290 is distinctfrom sending (and deferred sending) sub-events to a respective hit view.In some embodiments, event recognizer 280 throws a flag associated withthe recognized event, and event handler 290 associated with the flagcatches the flag and performs a predefined process.

In some embodiments, event delivery instructions 288 include sub-eventdelivery instructions that deliver event information about a sub-eventwithout activating an event handler. Instead, the sub-event deliveryinstructions deliver event information to event handlers associated withthe series of sub-events or to actively involved views. Event handlersassociated with the series of sub-events or with actively involved viewsreceive the event information and perform a predetermined process.

In some embodiments, data updater 276 creates and updates data used inapplication 236-1. For example, data updater 276 updates the telephonenumber used in contacts module 237, or stores a video file used in videoplayer module. In some embodiments, object updater 277 creates andupdates objects used in application 236-1. For example, object updater277 creates a new user-interface object or updates the position of auser-interface object. GUI updater 278 updates the GUI. For example, GUIupdater 278 prepares display information and sends it to graphics module232 for display on a touch-sensitive display.

In some embodiments, event handler(s) 290 includes or has access to dataupdater 276, object updater 277, and GUI updater 278. In someembodiments, data updater 276, object updater 277, and GUI updater 278are included in a single module of a respective application 236-1 orapplication view 291. In other embodiments, they are included in two ormore software modules.

It shall be understood that the foregoing discussion regarding eventhandling of user touches on touch-sensitive displays also applies toother forms of user inputs to operate multifunction devices 200 withinput devices, not all of which are initiated on touch screens. Forexample, mouse movement and mouse button presses, optionally coordinatedwith single or multiple keyboard presses or holds; contact movementssuch as taps, drags, scrolls, etc. on touchpads; pen stylus inputs;movement of the device; oral instructions; detected eye movements;biometric inputs; and/or any combination thereof are optionally utilizedas inputs corresponding to sub-events which define an event to berecognized.

FIG. 3 illustrates a portable multifunction device 200 having a touchscreen 212 in accordance with some embodiments. The touch screenoptionally displays one or more graphics within user interface (UI) 300.In this embodiment, as well as others described below, a user is enabledto select one or more of the graphics by making a gesture on thegraphics, for example, with one or more fingers 302 (not drawn to scalein the figure) or one or more styluses 303 (not drawn to scale in thefigure). In some embodiments, selection of one or more graphics occurswhen the user breaks contact with the one or more graphics. In someembodiments, the gesture optionally includes one or more taps, one ormore swipes (from left to right, right to left, upward and/or downward),and/or a rolling of a finger (from right to left, left to right, upwardand/or downward) that has made contact with device 200. In someimplementations or circumstances, inadvertent contact with a graphicdoes not select the graphic. For example, a swipe gesture that sweepsover an application icon optionally does not select the correspondingapplication when the gesture corresponding to selection is a tap.

Device 200 also includes one or more physical buttons, such as “home” ormenu button 304. As described previously, menu button 304 is used tonavigate to any application 236 in a set of applications that isexecuted on device 200. Alternatively, in some embodiments, the menubutton is implemented as a soft key in a GUI displayed on touch screen212.

In one embodiment, device 200 includes touch screen 212, menu button304, push button 306 for powering the device on/off and locking thedevice, volume adjustment button(s) 308, subscriber identity module(SIM) card slot 310, headset jack 312, and docking/charging externalport 224. Push button 306 is, optionally, used to turn the power on/offon the device by depressing the button and holding the button in thedepressed state for a predefined time interval; to lock the device bydepressing the button and releasing the button before the predefinedtime interval has elapsed; and/or to unlock the device or initiate anunlock process. In an alternative embodiment, device 200 also acceptsverbal input for activation or deactivation of some functions throughmicrophone 213. Device 200 also, optionally, includes one or morecontact intensity sensors 265 for detecting intensity of contacts ontouch screen 212 and/or one or more tactile output generators 267 forgenerating tactile outputs for a user of device 200.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of an exemplary multifunction device with adisplay and a touch-sensitive surface in accordance with someembodiments. Device 400 need not be portable. In some embodiments,device 400 is a laptop computer, a desktop computer, a tablet computer,a multimedia player device, a navigation device, an educational device(such as a child's learning toy), a gaming system, or a control device(e.g., a home or industrial controller). Device 400 typically includesone or more processing units (CPUs) 410, one or more network or othercommunications interfaces 460, memory 470, and one or more communicationbuses 420 for interconnecting these components. Communication buses 420optionally include circuitry (sometimes called a chipset) thatinterconnects and controls communications between system components.Device 400 includes input/output (I/O) interface 430 comprising display440, which is typically a touch screen display. I/O interface 430 alsooptionally includes a keyboard and/or mouse (or other pointing device)450 and touchpad 455, tactile output generator 457 for generatingtactile outputs on device 400 (e.g., similar to tactile outputgenerator(s) 267 described above with reference to FIG. 2A), sensors 459(e.g., optical, acceleration, proximity, touch-sensitive, and/or contactintensity sensors similar to contact intensity sensor(s) 265 describedabove with reference to FIG. 2A). Memory 470 includes high-speed randomaccess memory, such as DRAM, SRAM, DDR RAM, or other random access solidstate memory devices; and optionally includes non-volatile memory, suchas one or more magnetic disk storage devices, optical disk storagedevices, flash memory devices, or other non-volatile solid state storagedevices. Memory 470 optionally includes one or more storage devicesremotely located from CPU(s) 410. In some embodiments, memory 470 storesprograms, modules, and data structures analogous to the programs,modules, and data structures stored in memory 202 of portablemultifunction device 200 (FIG. 2A), or a subset thereof. Furthermore,memory 470 optionally stores additional programs, modules, and datastructures not present in memory 202 of portable multifunction device200. For example, memory 470 of device 400 optionally stores drawingmodule 480, presentation module 482, word processing module 484, websitecreation module 486, disk authoring module 488, and/or spreadsheetmodule 490, while memory 202 of portable multifunction device 200 (FIG.2A) optionally does not store these modules.

Each of the above-identified elements in FIG. 4 is, in some examples,stored in one or more of the previously mentioned memory devices. Eachof the above-identified modules corresponds to a set of instructions forperforming a function described above. The above-identified modules orprograms (e.g., sets of instructions) need not be implemented asseparate software programs, procedures, or modules, and thus varioussubsets of these modules are combined or otherwise rearranged in variousembodiments. In some embodiments, memory 470 stores a subset of themodules and data structures identified above. Furthermore, memory 470stores additional modules and data structures not described above.

Attention is now directed towards embodiments of user interfaces thatcan be implemented on, for example, portable multifunction device 200.

FIG. 5A illustrates an exemplary user interface for a menu ofapplications on portable multifunction device 200 in accordance withsome embodiments. Similar user interfaces are implemented on device 400.In some embodiments, user interface 500 includes the following elements,or a subset or superset thereof:

Signal strength indicator(s) 502 for wireless communication(s), such ascellular and Wi-Fi signals;

-   -   Time 504;    -   Bluetooth indicator 505;    -   Battery status indicator 506;    -   Tray 508 with icons for frequently used applications, such as:        -   Icon 516 for telephone module 238, labeled “Phone,” which            optionally includes an indicator 514 of the number of missed            calls or voicemail messages;        -   Icon 518 for e-mail client module 240, labeled “Mail,” which            optionally includes an indicator 510 of the number of unread            e-mails;        -   Icon 520 for browser module 247, labeled “Browser;” and        -   Icon 522 for video and music player module 252, also            referred to as iPod (trademark of Apple Inc.) module 252,            labeled “iPod;” and    -   Icons for other applications, such as:        -   Icon 524 for IM module 241, labeled “Messages;”        -   Icon 526 for calendar module 248, labeled “Calendar;”        -   Icon 528 for image management module 244, labeled “Photos;”        -   Icon 530 for camera module 243, labeled “Camera;”        -   Icon 532 for online video module 255, labeled “Online            Video;”        -   Icon 534 for stocks widget 249-2, labeled “Stocks;”        -   Icon 536 for map module 254, labeled “Maps;”        -   Icon 538 for weather widget 249-1, labeled “Weather;”        -   Icon 540 for alarm clock widget 249-4, labeled “Clock;”        -   Icon 542 for workout support module 242, labeled “Workout            Support;”        -   Icon 544 for notes module 253, labeled “Notes;” and        -   Icon 546 for a settings application or module, labeled            “Settings,” which provides access to settings for device 200            and its various applications 236.

It should be noted that the icon labels illustrated in FIG. 5A aremerely exemplary. For example, icon 522 for video and music playermodule 252 is optionally labeled “Music” or “Music Player.” Other labelsare, optionally, used for various application icons. In someembodiments, a label for a respective application icon includes a nameof an application corresponding to the respective application icon. Insome embodiments, a label for a particular application icon is distinctfrom a name of an application corresponding to the particularapplication icon.

FIG. 5B illustrates an exemplary user interface on a device (e.g.,device 400, FIG. 4 ) with a touch-sensitive surface 551 (e.g., a tabletor touchpad 455, FIG. 4 ) that is separate from the display 550 (e.g.,touch screen display 212). Device 400 also, optionally, includes one ormore contact intensity sensors (e.g., one or more of sensors 457) fordetecting intensity of contacts on touch-sensitive surface 551 and/orone or more tactile output generators 459 for generating tactile outputsfor a user of device 400.

Although some of the examples which follow will be given with referenceto inputs on touch screen display 212 (where the touch-sensitive surfaceand the display are combined), in some embodiments, the device detectsinputs on a touch-sensitive surface that is separate from the display,as shown in FIG. 5B. In some embodiments, the touch-sensitive surface(e.g., 551 in FIG. 5B) has a primary axis (e.g., 552 in FIG. 5B) thatcorresponds to a primary axis (e.g., 553 in FIG. 5B) on the display(e.g., 550). In accordance with these embodiments, the device detectscontacts (e.g., 560 and 562 in FIG. 5B) with the touch-sensitive surface551 at locations that correspond to respective locations on the display(e.g., in FIG. 5B, 560 corresponds to 568 and 562 corresponds to 570).In this way, user inputs (e.g., contacts 560 and 562, and movementsthereof) detected by the device on the touch-sensitive surface (e.g.,551 in FIG. 5B) are used by the device to manipulate the user interfaceon the display (e.g., 550 in FIG. 5B) of the multifunction device whenthe touch-sensitive surface is separate from the display. It should beunderstood that similar methods are, optionally, used for other userinterfaces described herein.

Additionally, while the following examples are given primarily withreference to finger inputs (e.g., finger contacts, finger tap gestures,finger swipe gestures), it should be understood that, in someembodiments, one or more of the finger inputs are replaced with inputfrom another input device (e.g., a mouse-based input or stylus input).For example, a swipe gesture is, optionally, replaced with a mouse click(e.g., instead of a contact) followed by movement of the cursor alongthe path of the swipe (e.g., instead of movement of the contact). Asanother example, a tap gesture is, optionally, replaced with a mouseclick while the cursor is located over the location of the tap gesture(e.g., instead of detection of the contact followed by ceasing to detectthe contact). Similarly, when multiple user inputs are simultaneouslydetected, it should be understood that multiple computer mice are,optionally, used simultaneously, or a mouse and finger contacts are,optionally, used simultaneously.

FIG. 6A illustrates exemplary personal electronic device 600. Device 600includes body 602. In some embodiments, device 600 includes some or allof the features described with respect to devices 200 and 400 (e.g.,FIGS. 2A-4 ). In some embodiments, device 600 has touch-sensitivedisplay screen 604, hereafter touch screen 604. Alternatively, or inaddition to touch screen 604, device 600 has a display and atouch-sensitive surface. As with devices 200 and 400, in someembodiments, touch screen 604 (or the touch-sensitive surface) has oneor more intensity sensors for detecting intensity of contacts (e.g.,touches) being applied. The one or more intensity sensors of touchscreen 604 (or the touch-sensitive surface) provide output data thatrepresents the intensity of touches. The user interface of device 600responds to touches based on their intensity, meaning that touches ofdifferent intensities can invoke different user interface operations ondevice 600.

Techniques for detecting and processing touch intensity are found, forexample, in related applications: International Patent ApplicationSerial No. PCT/US2013/040061, titled “Device, Method, and Graphical UserInterface for Displaying User Interface Objects Corresponding to anApplication,” filed May 8, 2013, and International Patent ApplicationSerial No. PCT/US2013/069483, titled “Device, Method, and Graphical UserInterface for Transitioning Between Touch Input to Display OutputRelationships,” filed Nov. 11, 2013, each of which is herebyincorporated by reference in their entirety.

In some embodiments, device 600 has one or more input mechanisms 606 and608. Input mechanisms 606 and 608, if included, are physical. Examplesof physical input mechanisms include push buttons and rotatablemechanisms. In some embodiments, device 600 has one or more attachmentmechanisms. Such attachment mechanisms, if included, can permitattachment of device 600 with, for example, hats, eyewear, earrings,necklaces, shirts, jackets, bracelets, watch straps, chains, trousers,belts, shoes, purses, backpacks, and so forth. These attachmentmechanisms permit device 600 to be worn by a user.

FIG. 6B depicts exemplary personal electronic device 600. In someembodiments, device 600 includes some or all of the components describedwith respect to FIGS. 2A, 2B, and 4 . Device 600 has bus 612 thatoperatively couples I/O section 614 with one or more computer processors616 and memory 618. I/O section 614 is connected to display 604, whichcan have touch-sensitive component 622 and, optionally, touch-intensitysensitive component 624. In addition, I/O section 614 is connected withcommunication unit 630 for receiving application and operating systemdata, using Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, near field communication (NFC), cellular,and/or other wireless communication techniques. Device 600 includesinput mechanisms 606 and/or 608. Input mechanism 606 is a rotatableinput device or a depressible and rotatable input device, for example.Input mechanism 608 is a button, in some examples.

Input mechanism 608 is a microphone, in some examples. Personalelectronic device 600 includes, for example, various sensors, such asGPS sensor 632, accelerometer 634, directional sensor 640 (e.g.,compass), gyroscope 636, motion sensor 638, and/or a combinationthereof, all of which are operatively connected to I/O section 614.

Memory 618 of personal electronic device 600 is a non-transitorycomputer-readable storage medium, for storing computer-executableinstructions, which, when executed by one or more computer processors616, for example, cause the computer processors to perform thetechniques and processes described below. The computer-executableinstructions, for example, are also stored and/or transported within anynon-transitory computer-readable storage medium for use by or inconnection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device,such as a computer-based system, processor-containing system, or othersystem that can fetch the instructions from the instruction executionsystem, apparatus, or device and execute the instructions. Personalelectronic device 600 is not limited to the components and configurationof FIG. 6B, but can include other or additional components in multipleconfigurations.

As used here, the term “affordance” refers to a user-interactivegraphical user interface object that is, for example, displayed on thedisplay screen of devices 200, 400, 600, 800, 830, 860, and/or 870(FIGS. 2A, 4, 6A-6B, 8A-8C, 9A-9C, 10A-10B, 11, and 12 ). For example,an image (e.g., icon), a button, and text (e.g., hyperlink) eachconstitutes an affordance.

As used herein, the term “focus selector” refers to an input elementthat indicates a current part of a user interface with which a user isinteracting. In some implementations that include a cursor or otherlocation marker, the cursor acts as a “focus selector” so that when aninput (e.g., a press input) is detected on a touch-sensitive surface(e.g., touchpad 455 in FIG. 4 or touch-sensitive surface 551 in FIG. 5B)while the cursor is over a particular user interface element (e.g., abutton, window, slider or other user interface element), the particularuser interface element is adjusted in accordance with the detectedinput. In some implementations that include a touch screen display(e.g., touch-sensitive display system 212 in FIG. 2A or touch screen 212in FIG. 5A) that enables direct interaction with user interface elementson the touch screen display, a detected contact on the touch screen actsas a “focus selector” so that when an input (e.g., a press input by thecontact) is detected on the touch screen display at a location of aparticular user interface element (e.g., a button, window, slider, orother user interface element), the particular user interface element isadjusted in accordance with the detected input. In some implementations,focus is moved from one region of a user interface to another region ofthe user interface without corresponding movement of a cursor ormovement of a contact on a touch screen display (e.g., by using a tabkey or arrow keys to move focus from one button to another button); inthese implementations, the focus selector moves in accordance withmovement of focus between different regions of the user interface.Without regard to the specific form taken by the focus selector, thefocus selector is generally the user interface element (or contact on atouch screen display) that is controlled by the user so as tocommunicate the user's intended interaction with the user interface(e.g., by indicating, to the device, the element of the user interfacewith which the user is intending to interact). For example, the locationof a focus selector (e.g., a cursor, a contact, or a selection box) overa respective button while a press input is detected on thetouch-sensitive surface (e.g., a touchpad or touch screen) will indicatethat the user is intending to activate the respective button (as opposedto other user interface elements shown on a display of the device).

As used in the specification and claims, the term “characteristicintensity” of a contact refers to a characteristic of the contact basedon one or more intensities of the contact. In some embodiments, thecharacteristic intensity is based on multiple intensity samples. Thecharacteristic intensity is, optionally, based on a predefined number ofintensity samples, or a set of intensity samples collected during apredetermined time period (e.g., 0.05, 0.1, 0.2, 0.5, 1, 2, 5, 10seconds) relative to a predefined event (e.g., after detecting thecontact, prior to detecting liftoff of the contact, before or afterdetecting a start of movement of the contact, prior to detecting an endof the contact, before or after detecting an increase in intensity ofthe contact, and/or before or after detecting a decrease in intensity ofthe contact). A characteristic intensity of a contact is, optionallybased on one or more of: a maximum value of the intensities of thecontact, a mean value of the intensities of the contact, an averagevalue of the intensities of the contact, a top 10 percentile value ofthe intensities of the contact, a value at the half maximum of theintensities of the contact, a value at the 90 percent maximum of theintensities of the contact, or the like. In some embodiments, theduration of the contact is used in determining the characteristicintensity (e.g., when the characteristic intensity is an average of theintensity of the contact over time). In some embodiments, thecharacteristic intensity is compared to a set of one or more intensitythresholds to determine whether an operation has been performed by auser. For example, the set of one or more intensity thresholds includesa first intensity threshold and a second intensity threshold. In thisexample, a contact with a characteristic intensity that does not exceedthe first threshold results in a first operation, a contact with acharacteristic intensity that exceeds the first intensity threshold anddoes not exceed the second intensity threshold results in a secondoperation, and a contact with a characteristic intensity that exceedsthe second threshold results in a third operation. In some embodiments,a comparison between the characteristic intensity and one or morethresholds is used to determine whether or not to perform one or moreoperations (e.g., whether to perform a respective operation or forgoperforming the respective operation) rather than being used to determinewhether to perform a first operation or a second operation.

In some embodiments, a portion of a gesture is identified for purposesof determining a characteristic intensity. For example, atouch-sensitive surface receives a continuous swipe contacttransitioning from a start location and reaching an end location, atwhich point the intensity of the contact increases. In this example, thecharacteristic intensity of the contact at the end location is based ononly a portion of the continuous swipe contact, and not the entire swipecontact (e.g., only the portion of the swipe contact at the endlocation). In some embodiments, a smoothing algorithm is applied to theintensities of the swipe contact prior to determining the characteristicintensity of the contact. For example, the smoothing algorithmoptionally includes one or more of: an unweighted sliding-averagesmoothing algorithm, a triangular smoothing algorithm, a median filtersmoothing algorithm, and/or an exponential smoothing algorithm. In somecircumstances, these smoothing algorithms eliminate narrow spikes ordips in the intensities of the swipe contact for purposes of determininga characteristic intensity.

The intensity of a contact on the touch-sensitive surface ischaracterized relative to one or more intensity thresholds, such as acontact-detection intensity threshold, a light press intensitythreshold, a deep press intensity threshold, and/or one or more otherintensity thresholds. In some embodiments, the light press intensitythreshold corresponds to an intensity at which the device will performoperations typically associated with clicking a button of a physicalmouse or a trackpad. In some embodiments, the deep press intensitythreshold corresponds to an intensity at which the device will performoperations that are different from operations typically associated withclicking a button of a physical mouse or a trackpad. In someembodiments, when a contact is detected with a characteristic intensitybelow the light press intensity threshold (e.g., and above a nominalcontact-detection intensity threshold below which the contact is nolonger detected), the device will move a focus selector in accordancewith movement of the contact on the touch-sensitive surface withoutperforming an operation associated with the light press intensitythreshold or the deep press intensity threshold. Generally, unlessotherwise stated, these intensity thresholds are consistent betweendifferent sets of user interface figures.

An increase of characteristic intensity of the contact from an intensitybelow the light press intensity threshold to an intensity between thelight press intensity threshold and the deep press intensity thresholdis sometimes referred to as a “light press” input. An increase ofcharacteristic intensity of the contact from an intensity below the deeppress intensity threshold to an intensity above the deep press intensitythreshold is sometimes referred to as a “deep press” input. An increaseof characteristic intensity of the contact from an intensity below thecontact-detection intensity threshold to an intensity between thecontact-detection intensity threshold and the light press intensitythreshold is sometimes referred to as detecting the contact on thetouch-surface. A decrease of characteristic intensity of the contactfrom an intensity above the contact-detection intensity threshold to anintensity below the contact-detection intensity threshold is sometimesreferred to as detecting liftoff of the contact from the touch-surface.In some embodiments, the contact-detection intensity threshold is zero.In some embodiments, the contact-detection intensity threshold isgreater than zero.

In some embodiments described herein, one or more operations areperformed in response to detecting a gesture that includes a respectivepress input or in response to detecting the respective press inputperformed with a respective contact (or a plurality of contacts), wherethe respective press input is detected based at least in part ondetecting an increase in intensity of the contact (or plurality ofcontacts) above a press-input intensity threshold. In some embodiments,the respective operation is performed in response to detecting theincrease in intensity of the respective contact above the press-inputintensity threshold (e.g., a “down stroke” of the respective pressinput). In some embodiments, the press input includes an increase inintensity of the respective contact above the press-input intensitythreshold and a subsequent decrease in intensity of the contact belowthe press-input intensity threshold, and the respective operation isperformed in response to detecting the subsequent decrease in intensityof the respective contact below the press-input threshold (e.g., an “upstroke” of the respective press input).

In some embodiments, the device employs intensity hysteresis to avoidaccidental inputs sometimes termed “jitter,” where the device defines orselects a hysteresis intensity threshold with a predefined relationshipto the press-input intensity threshold (e.g., the hysteresis intensitythreshold is X intensity units lower than the press-input intensitythreshold or the hysteresis intensity threshold is 75%, 90%, or somereasonable proportion of the press-input intensity threshold). Thus, insome embodiments, the press input includes an increase in intensity ofthe respective contact above the press-input intensity threshold and asubsequent decrease in intensity of the contact below the hysteresisintensity threshold that corresponds to the press-input intensitythreshold, and the respective operation is performed in response todetecting the subsequent decrease in intensity of the respective contactbelow the hysteresis intensity threshold (e.g., an “up stroke” of therespective press input). Similarly, in some embodiments, the press inputis detected only when the device detects an increase in intensity of thecontact from an intensity at or below the hysteresis intensity thresholdto an intensity at or above the press-input intensity threshold and,optionally, a subsequent decrease in intensity of the contact to anintensity at or below the hysteresis intensity, and the respectiveoperation is performed in response to detecting the press input (e.g.,the increase in intensity of the contact or the decrease in intensity ofthe contact, depending on the circumstances).

For ease of explanation, the descriptions of operations performed inresponse to a press input associated with a press-input intensitythreshold or in response to a gesture including the press input are,optionally, triggered in response to detecting either: an increase inintensity of a contact above the press-input intensity threshold, anincrease in intensity of a contact from an intensity below thehysteresis intensity threshold to an intensity above the press-inputintensity threshold, a decrease in intensity of the contact below thepress-input intensity threshold, and/or a decrease in intensity of thecontact below the hysteresis intensity threshold corresponding to thepress-input intensity threshold. Additionally, in examples where anoperation is described as being performed in response to detecting adecrease in intensity of a contact below the press-input intensitythreshold, the operation is, optionally, performed in response todetecting a decrease in intensity of the contact below a hysteresisintensity threshold corresponding to, and lower than, the press-inputintensity threshold.

3. Digital Assistant System

FIG. 7A illustrates a block diagram of digital assistant system 700 inaccordance with various examples. In some examples, digital assistantsystem 700 is implemented on a standalone computer system. In someexamples, digital assistant system 700 is distributed across multiplecomputers. In some examples, some of the modules and functions of thedigital assistant are divided into a server portion and a clientportion, where the client portion resides on one or more user devices(e.g., devices 104, 122, 200, 400, 600, 800, 830, 860, or 870) andcommunicates with the server portion (e.g., server system 108) throughone or more networks, e.g., as shown in FIG. 1 . In some examples,digital assistant system 700 is an implementation of server system 108(and/or DA server 106) shown in FIG. 1 . It should be noted that digitalassistant system 700 is only one example of a digital assistant system,and that digital assistant system 700 can have more or fewer componentsthan shown, can combine two or more components, or can have a differentconfiguration or arrangement of the components. The various componentsshown in FIG. 7A are implemented in hardware, software instructions forexecution by one or more processors, firmware, including one or moresignal processing and/or application specific integrated circuits, or acombination thereof.

Digital assistant system 700 includes memory 702, one or more processors704, input/output (I/O) interface 706, and network communicationsinterface 708. These components can communicate with one another overone or more communication buses or signal lines 710.

In some examples, memory 702 includes a non-transitory computer-readablemedium, such as high-speed random access memory and/or a non-volatilecomputer-readable storage medium (e.g., one or more magnetic diskstorage devices, flash memory devices, or other non-volatile solid-statememory devices).

In some examples, I/O interface 706 couples input/output devices 716 ofdigital assistant system 700, such as displays, keyboards, touchscreens, and microphones, to user interface module 722. I/O interface706, in conjunction with user interface module 722, receives user inputs(e.g., voice input, keyboard inputs, touch inputs, etc.) and processesthem accordingly. In some examples, e.g., when the digital assistant isimplemented on a standalone user device, digital assistant system 700includes any of the components and I/O communication interfacesdescribed with respect to devices 200, 400, 600, 600, 800, 830, 860, or870 in FIGS. 2A, 4, 6A-6B, 8A-8C, 9A-9C, 10A-10B, 11, and 12respectively. In some examples, digital assistant system 700 representsthe server portion of a digital assistant implementation, and caninteract with the user through a client-side portion residing on a userdevice (e.g., devices 104, 200, 400, 600, 800, 830, 860, or 870).

In some examples, the network communications interface 708 includeswired communication port(s) 712 and/or wireless transmission andreception circuitry 714. The wired communication port(s) receives andsend communication signals via one or more wired interfaces, e.g.,Ethernet, Universal Serial Bus (USB), FIREWIRE, etc. The wirelesscircuitry 714 receives and sends RF signals and/or optical signalsfrom/to communications networks and other communications devices. Thewireless communications use any of a plurality of communicationsstandards, protocols, and technologies, such as GSM, EDGE, CDMA, TDMA,Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, VoIP, Wi-MAX, or any other suitable communicationprotocol. Network communications interface 708 enables communicationbetween digital assistant system 700 with networks, such as theInternet, an intranet, and/or a wireless network, such as a cellulartelephone network, a wireless local area network (LAN), and/or ametropolitan area network (MAN), and other devices.

In some examples, memory 702, or the computer-readable storage media ofmemory 702, stores programs, modules, instructions, and data structuresincluding all or a subset of: operating system 718, communicationsmodule 720, user interface module 722, one or more applications 724, anddigital assistant module 726. In particular, memory 702, or thecomputer-readable storage media of memory 702, stores instructions forperforming the processes described below. One or more processors 704execute these programs, modules, and instructions, and reads/writesfrom/to the data structures.

Operating system 718 (e.g., Darwin, RTXC, LINUX, UNIX, iOS, OS X,WINDOWS, or an embedded operating system such as VxWorks) includesvarious software components and/or drivers for controlling and managinggeneral system tasks (e.g., memory management, storage device control,power management, etc.) and facilitates communications between varioushardware, firmware, and software components.

Communications module 720 facilitates communications between digitalassistant system 700 with other devices over network communicationsinterface 708. For example, communications module 720 communicates withRF circuitry 208 of electronic devices such as devices 200, 400, and 600shown in FIGS. 2A, 4, 6A-6B, respectively. Communications module 720also includes various components for handling data received by wirelesscircuitry 714 and/or wired communications port 712.

User interface module 722 receives commands and/or inputs from a uservia I/O interface 706 (e.g., from a keyboard, touch screen, pointingdevice, controller, and/or microphone), and generate user interfaceobjects on a display. User interface module 722 also prepares anddelivers outputs (e.g., speech, sound, animation, text, icons,vibrations, haptic feedback, light, etc.) to the user via the I/Ointerface 706 (e.g., through displays, audio channels, speakers,touch-pads, etc.).

Applications 724 include programs and/or modules that are configured tobe executed by one or more processors 704. For example, if the digitalassistant system is implemented on a standalone user device,applications 724 include user applications, such as games, a calendarapplication, a navigation application, or an email application. Ifdigital assistant system 700 is implemented on a server, applications724 include resource management applications, diagnostic applications,or scheduling applications, for example.

Memory 702 also stores digital assistant module 726 (or the serverportion of a digital assistant). In some examples, digital assistantmodule 726 includes the following sub-modules, or a subset or supersetthereof: input/output processing module 728, speech-to-text (STT)processing module 730, natural language processing module 732, dialogueflow processing module 734, task flow processing module 736, serviceprocessing module 738, and speech synthesis processing module 740. Eachof these modules has access to one or more of the following systems ordata and models of the digital assistant module 726, or a subset orsuperset thereof: ontology 760, vocabulary index 744, user data 748,task flow models 754, service models 756, and ASR systems 758.

In some examples, using the processing modules, data, and modelsimplemented in digital assistant module 726, the digital assistant canperform at least some of the following: converting speech input intotext; identifying a user's intent expressed in a natural language inputreceived from the user; actively eliciting and obtaining informationneeded to fully infer the user's intent (e.g., by disambiguating words,games, intentions, etc.); determining the task flow for fulfilling theinferred intent; and executing the task flow to fulfill the inferredintent.

In some examples, as shown in FIG. 7B, I/O processing module 728interacts with the user through I/O devices 716 in FIG. 7A or with auser device (e.g., devices 104, 200, 400, or 600) through networkcommunications interface 708 in FIG. 7A to obtain user input (e.g., aspeech input) and to provide responses (e.g., as speech outputs) to theuser input. I/O processing module 728 optionally obtains contextualinformation associated with the user input from the user device, alongwith or shortly after the receipt of the user input. The contextualinformation includes user-specific data, vocabulary, and/or preferencesrelevant to the user input. In some examples, the contextual informationalso includes software and hardware states of the user device at thetime the user request is received, and/or information related to thesurrounding environment of the user at the time that the user requestwas received. In some examples, I/O processing module 728 also sendsfollow-up questions to, and receives answers from, the user regardingthe user request. When a user request is received by I/O processingmodule 728 and the user request includes speech input, I/O processingmodule 728 forwards the speech input to STT processing module 730 (orspeech recognizer) for speech-to-text conversions.

STT processing module 730 includes one or more ASR systems 758. The oneor more ASR systems 758 can process the speech input that is receivedthrough I/O processing module 728 to produce a recognition result. EachASR system 758 includes a front-end speech pre-processor. The front-endspeech pre-processor extracts representative features from the speechinput. For example, the front-end speech pre-processor performs aFourier transform on the speech input to extract spectral features thatcharacterize the speech input as a sequence of representativemulti-dimensional vectors. Further, each ASR system 758 includes one ormore speech recognition models (e.g., acoustic models and/or languagemodels) and implements one or more speech recognition engines. Examplesof speech recognition models include Hidden Markov Models,Gaussian-Mixture Models, Deep Neural Network Models, n-gram languagemodels, and other statistical models. Examples of speech recognitionengines include the dynamic time warping based engines and weightedfinite-state transducers (WFST) based engines. The one or more speechrecognition models and the one or more speech recognition engines areused to process the extracted representative features of the front-endspeech pre-processor to produce intermediate recognitions results (e.g.,phonemes, phonemic strings, and sub-words), and ultimately, textrecognition results (e.g., words, word strings, or sequence of tokens).In some examples, the speech input is processed at least partially by athird-party service or on the user's device (e.g., device 104, 200, 400,or 600) to produce the recognition result. Once STT processing module730 produces recognition results containing a text string (e.g., words,or sequence of words, or sequence of tokens), the recognition result ispassed to natural language processing module 732 for intent deduction.In some examples, STT processing module 730 produces multiple candidatetext representations of the speech input. Each candidate textrepresentation is a sequence of words or tokens corresponding to thespeech input. In some examples, each candidate text representation isassociated with a speech recognition confidence score. Based on thespeech recognition confidence scores, STT processing module 730 ranksthe candidate text representations and provides the n-best (e.g., nhighest ranked) candidate text representation(s) to natural languageprocessing module 732 for intent deduction, where n is a predeterminedinteger greater than zero. For example, in one example, only the highestranked (n=1) candidate text representation is passed to natural languageprocessing module 732 for intent deduction. In another example, the fivehighest ranked (n=5) candidate text representations are passed tonatural language processing module 732 for intent deduction.

More details on the speech-to-text processing are described in U.S.Utility application Ser. No. 13/236,942 for “Consolidating SpeechRecognition Results,” filed on Sep. 20, 2011, the entire disclosure ofwhich is incorporated herein by reference.

In some examples, STT processing module 730 includes and/or accesses avocabulary of recognizable words via phonetic alphabet conversion module731. Each vocabulary word is associated with one or more candidatepronunciations of the word represented in a speech recognition phoneticalphabet. In particular, the vocabulary of recognizable words includes aword that is associated with a plurality of candidate pronunciations.For example, the vocabulary includes the word “tomato” that isassociated with the candidate pronunciations of /

/ and /

/. Further, vocabulary words are associated with custom candidatepronunciations that are based on previous speech inputs from the user.Such custom candidate pronunciations are stored in STT processing module730 and are associated with a particular user via the user's profile onthe device. In some examples, the candidate pronunciations for words aredetermined based on the spelling of the word and one or more linguisticand/or phonetic rules. In some examples, the candidate pronunciationsare manually generated, e.g., based on known canonical pronunciations.

In some examples, the candidate pronunciations are ranked based on thecommonness of the candidate pronunciation. For example, the candidatepronunciation /

/ is ranked higher than /

/, because the former is a more commonly used pronunciation (e.g., amongall users, for users in a particular geographical region, or for anyother appropriate subset of users). In some examples, candidatepronunciations are ranked based on whether the candidate pronunciationis a custom candidate pronunciation associated with the user. Forexample, custom candidate pronunciations are ranked higher thancanonical candidate pronunciations. This can be useful for recognizingproper nouns having a unique pronunciation that deviates from canonicalpronunciation. In some examples, candidate pronunciations are associatedwith one or more speech characteristics, such as geographic origin,nationality, or ethnicity. For example, the candidate pronunciation /

/ is associated with the United States, whereas the candidatepronunciation /

/ is associated with Great Britain. Further, the rank of the candidatepronunciation is based on one or more characteristics (e.g., geographicorigin, nationality, ethnicity, etc.) of the user stored in the user'sprofile on the device. For example, it can be determined from the user'sprofile that the user is associated with the United States. Based on theuser being associated with the United States, the candidatepronunciation /

/ (associated with the United States) is ranked higher than thecandidate pronunciation /

/ (associated with Great Britain). In some examples, one of the rankedcandidate pronunciations is selected as a predicted pronunciation (e.g.,the most likely pronunciation).

When a speech input is received, STT processing module 730 is used todetermine the phonemes corresponding to the speech input (e.g., using anacoustic model), and then attempt to determine words that match thephonemes (e.g., using a language model). For example, if STT processingmodule 730 first identifies the sequence of phonemes /

/ corresponding to a portion of the speech input, it can then determine,based on vocabulary index 744, that this sequence corresponds to theword “tomato.”

In some examples, STT processing module 730 uses approximate matchingtechniques to determine words in an utterance. Thus, for example, theSTT processing module 730 determines that the sequence of phonemes /

/ corresponds to the word “tomato,” even if that particular sequence ofphonemes is not one of the candidate sequence of phonemes for that word.

Natural language processing module 732 (“natural language processor”) ofthe digital assistant takes the n-best candidate text representation(s)(“word sequence(s)” or “token sequence(s)”) generated by STT processingmodule 730, and attempts to associate each of the candidate textrepresentations with one or more “actionable intents” recognized by thedigital assistant. An “actionable intent” (or “user intent”) representsa task that can be performed by the digital assistant, and can have anassociated task flow implemented in task flow models 754. The associatedtask flow is a series of programmed actions and steps that the digitalassistant takes in order to perform the task. The scope of a digitalassistant's capabilities is dependent on the number and variety of taskflows that have been implemented and stored in task flow models 754, orin other words, on the number and variety of “actionable intents” thatthe digital assistant recognizes. The effectiveness of the digitalassistant, however, also dependents on the assistant's ability to inferthe correct “actionable intent(s)” from the user request expressed innatural language.

In some examples, in addition to the sequence of words or tokensobtained from STT processing module 730, natural language processingmodule 732 also receives contextual information associated with the userrequest, e.g., from I/O processing module 728. The natural languageprocessing module 732 optionally uses the contextual information toclarify, supplement, and/or further define the information contained inthe candidate text representations received from STT processing module730. The contextual information includes, for example, user preferences,hardware, and/or software states of the user device, sensor informationcollected before, during, or shortly after the user request, priorinteractions (e.g., dialogue) between the digital assistant and theuser, and the like. As described herein, contextual information is, insome examples, dynamic, and changes with time, location, content of thedialogue, and other factors.

In some examples, the natural language processing is based on, e.g.,ontology 760. Ontology 760 is a hierarchical structure containing manynodes, each node representing either an “actionable intent” or a“property” relevant to one or more of the “actionable intents” or other“properties.” As noted above, an “actionable intent” represents a taskthat the digital assistant is capable of performing, i.e., it is“actionable” or can be acted on. A “property” represents a parameterassociated with an actionable intent or a sub-aspect of anotherproperty. A linkage between an actionable intent node and a propertynode in ontology 760 defines how a parameter represented by the propertynode pertains to the task represented by the actionable intent node.

In some examples, ontology 760 is made up of actionable intent nodes andproperty nodes. Within ontology 760, each actionable intent node islinked to one or more property nodes either directly or through one ormore intermediate property nodes. Similarly, each property node islinked to one or more actionable intent nodes either directly or throughone or more intermediate property nodes. For example, as shown in FIG.7C, ontology 760 includes a “restaurant reservation” node (i.e., anactionable intent node). Property nodes “restaurant,” “date/time” (forthe reservation), and “party size” are each directly linked to theactionable intent node (i.e., the “restaurant reservation” node).

In addition, property nodes “cuisine,” “price range,” “phone number,”and “location” are sub-nodes of the property node “restaurant,” and areeach linked to the “restaurant reservation” node (i.e., the actionableintent node) through the intermediate property node “restaurant.” Foranother example, as shown in FIG. 7C, ontology 760 also includes a “setreminder” node (i.e., another actionable intent node). Property nodes“date/time” (for setting the reminder) and “subject” (for the reminder)are each linked to the “set reminder” node. Since the property“date/time” is relevant to both the task of making a restaurantreservation and the task of setting a reminder, the property node“date/time” is linked to both the “restaurant reservation” node and the“set reminder” node in ontology 760.

An actionable intent node, along with its linked property nodes, isdescribed as a “domain.” In the present discussion, each domain isassociated with a respective actionable intent, and refers to the groupof nodes (and the relationships there between) associated with theparticular actionable intent. For example, ontology 760 shown in FIG. 7Cincludes an example of restaurant reservation domain 762 and an exampleof reminder domain 764 within ontology 760. The restaurant reservationdomain includes the actionable intent node “restaurant reservation,”property nodes “restaurant,” “date/time,” and “party size,” andsub-property nodes “cuisine,” “price range,” “phone number,” and“location.” Reminder domain 764 includes the actionable intent node “setreminder,” and property nodes “subject” and “date/time.” In someexamples, ontology 760 is made up of many domains. Each domain sharesone or more property nodes with one or more other domains. For example,the “date/time” property node is associated with many different domains(e.g., a scheduling domain, a travel reservation domain, a movie ticketdomain, etc.), in addition to restaurant reservation domain 762 andreminder domain 764.

While FIG. 7C illustrates two example domains within ontology 760, otherdomains include, for example, “find a movie,” “initiate a phone call,”“find directions,” “schedule a meeting,” “send a message,” and “providean answer to a question,” “read a list,” “providing navigationinstructions,” “provide instructions for a task” and so on. A “send amessage” domain is associated with a “send a message” actionable intentnode, and further includes property nodes such as “recipient(s),”“message type,” and “message body.” The property node “recipient” isfurther defined, for example, by the sub-property nodes such as“recipient name” and “message address.”

In some examples, ontology 760 includes all the domains (and henceactionable intents) that the digital assistant is capable ofunderstanding and acting upon. In some examples, ontology 760 ismodified, such as by adding or removing entire domains or nodes, or bymodifying relationships between the nodes within the ontology 760.

In some examples, nodes associated with multiple related actionableintents are clustered under a “super domain” in ontology 760. Forexample, a “travel” super-domain includes a cluster of property nodesand actionable intent nodes related to travel. The actionable intentnodes related to travel includes “airline reservation,” “hotelreservation,” “car rental,” “get directions,” “find points of interest,”and so on. The actionable intent nodes under the same super domain(e.g., the “travel” super domain) have many property nodes in common.For example, the actionable intent nodes for “airline reservation,”“hotel reservation,” “car rental,” “get directions,” and “find points ofinterest” share one or more of the property nodes “start location,”“destination,” “departure date/time,” “arrival date/time,” and “partysize.”

In some examples, each node in ontology 760 is associated with a set ofwords and/or phrases that are relevant to the property or actionableintent represented by the node. The respective set of words and/orphrases associated with each node are the so-called “vocabulary”associated with the node. The respective set of words and/or phrasesassociated with each node are stored in vocabulary index 744 inassociation with the property or actionable intent represented by thenode. For example, returning to FIG. 7B, the vocabulary associated withthe node for the property of “restaurant” includes words such as “food,”“drinks,” “cuisine,” “hungry,” “eat,” “pizza,” “fast food,” “meal,” andso on. For another example, the vocabulary associated with the node forthe actionable intent of “initiate a phone call” includes words andphrases such as “call,” “phone,” “dial,” “ring,” “call this number,”“make a call to,” and so on. The vocabulary index 744 optionallyincludes words and phrases in different languages.

Natural language processing module 732 receives the candidate textrepresentations (e.g., text string(s) or token sequence(s)) from STTprocessing module 730, and for each candidate representation, determineswhat nodes are implicated by the words in the candidate textrepresentation. In some examples, if a word or phrase in the candidatetext representation is found to be associated with one or more nodes inontology 760 (via vocabulary index 744), the word or phrase “triggers”or “activates” those nodes. Based on the quantity and/or relativeimportance of the activated nodes, natural language processing module732 selects one of the actionable intents as the task that the userintended the digital assistant to perform. In some examples, the domainthat has the most “triggered” nodes is selected. In some examples, thedomain having the highest confidence value (e.g., based on the relativeimportance of its various triggered nodes) is selected. In someexamples, the domain is selected based on a combination of the numberand the importance of the triggered nodes. In some examples, additionalfactors are considered in selecting the node as well, such as whetherthe digital assistant has previously correctly interpreted a similarrequest from a user.

User data 748 includes user-specific information, such as user-specificvocabulary, user preferences, user address, user's default and secondarylanguages, user's contact list, and other short-term or long-terminformation for each user. In some examples, natural language processingmodule 732 uses the user-specific information to supplement theinformation contained in the user input to further define the userintent. For example, for a user request “invite my friends to mybirthday party,” natural language processing module 732 is able toaccess user data 748 to determine who the “friends” are and when andwhere the “birthday party” would be held, rather than requiring the userto provide such information explicitly in his/her request.

It should be recognized that in some examples, natural languageprocessing module 732 is implemented using one or more machine learningmechanisms (e.g., neural networks). In particular, the one or moremachine learning mechanisms are configured to receive a candidate textrepresentation and contextual information associated with the candidatetext representation. Based on the candidate text representation and theassociated contextual information, the one or more machine learningmechanisms are configured to determine intent confidence scores over aset of candidate actionable intents. Natural language processing module732 can select one or more candidate actionable intents from the set ofcandidate actionable intents based on the determined intent confidencescores. In some examples, an ontology (e.g., ontology 760) is also usedto select the one or more candidate actionable intents from the set ofcandidate actionable intents.

Other details of searching an ontology based on a token string aredescribed in U.S. Utility application Ser. No. 12/341,743 for “Methodand Apparatus for Searching Using An Active Ontology,” filed Dec. 22,2008, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein byreference.

In some examples, once natural language processing module 732 identifiesan actionable intent (or domain) based on the user request, naturallanguage processing module 732 generates a structured query to representthe identified actionable intent. In some examples, the structured queryincludes parameters for one or more nodes within the domain for theactionable intent, and at least some of the parameters are populatedwith the specific information and requirements specified in the userrequest. For example, the user says “Make me a dinner reservation at asushi place at 7.” In this case, natural language processing module 732is able to correctly identify the actionable intent to be “restaurantreservation” based on the user input. According to the ontology, astructured query for a “restaurant reservation” domain includesparameters such as {Cuisine}, {Time}, {Date}, {Party Size}, and thelike. In some examples, based on the speech input and the text derivedfrom the speech input using STT processing module 730, natural languageprocessing module 732 generates a partial structured query for therestaurant reservation domain, where the partial structured queryincludes the parameters {Cuisine=“Sushi”} and {Time=“7 pm”}. However, inthis example, the user's utterance contains insufficient information tocomplete the structured query associated with the domain. Therefore,other necessary parameters such as {Party Size} and {Date} are notspecified in the structured query based on the information currentlyavailable. In some examples, natural language processing module 732populates some parameters of the structured query with receivedcontextual information. For example, in some examples, if the userrequested a sushi restaurant “near me,” natural language processingmodule 732 populates a {location} parameter in the structured query withGPS coordinates from the user device.

In some examples, natural language processing module 732 identifiesmultiple candidate actionable intents for each candidate textrepresentation received from STT processing module 730. Further, in someexamples, a respective structured query (partial or complete) isgenerated for each identified candidate actionable intent. Naturallanguage processing module 732 determines an intent confidence score foreach candidate actionable intent and ranks the candidate actionableintents based on the intent confidence scores. In some examples, naturallanguage processing module 732 passes the generated structured query (orqueries), including any completed parameters, to task flow processingmodule 736 (“task flow processor”). In some examples, the structuredquery (or queries) for the m-best (e.g., m highest ranked) candidateactionable intents are provided to task flow processing module 736,where m is a predetermined integer greater than zero. In some examples,the structured query (or queries) for the m-best candidate actionableintents are provided to task flow processing module 736 with thecorresponding candidate text representation(s).

Other details of inferring a user intent based on multiple candidateactionable intents determined from multiple candidate textrepresentations of a speech input are described in U.S. Utilityapplication Ser. No. 14/298,725 for “System and Method for InferringUser Intent From Speech Inputs,” filed Jun. 6, 2014, the entiredisclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.

Task flow processing module 736 is configured to receive the structuredquery (or queries) from natural language processing module 732, completethe structured query, if necessary, and perform the actions required to“complete” the user's ultimate request. In some examples, the variousprocedures necessary to complete these tasks are provided in task flowmodels 754. In some examples, task flow models 754 include proceduresfor obtaining additional information from the user and task flows forperforming actions associated with the actionable intent.

As described above, in order to complete a structured query, task flowprocessing module 736 needs to initiate additional dialogue with theuser in order to obtain additional information, and/or disambiguatepotentially ambiguous utterances. When such interactions are necessary,task flow processing module 736 invokes dialogue flow processing module734 to engage in a dialogue with the user. In some examples, dialogueflow processing module 734 determines how (and/or when) to ask the userfor the additional information and receives and processes the userresponses. The questions are provided to and answers are received fromthe users through I/O processing module 728. In some examples, dialogueflow processing module 734 presents dialogue output to the user viaaudio and/or visual output, and receives input from the user via spokenor physical (e.g., clicking) responses. Continuing with the exampleabove, when task flow processing module 736 invokes dialogue flowprocessing module 734 to determine the “party size” and “date”information for the structured query associated with the domain“restaurant reservation,” dialogue flow processing module 734 generatesquestions such as “For how many people?” and “On which day?” to pass tothe user. Once answers are received from the user, dialogue flowprocessing module 734 then populates the structured query with themissing information, or pass the information to task flow processingmodule 736 to complete the missing information from the structuredquery.

Once task flow processing module 736 has completed the structured queryfor an actionable intent, task flow processing module 736 proceeds toperform the ultimate task associated with the actionable intent.Accordingly, task flow processing module 736 executes the steps andinstructions in the task flow model according to the specific parameterscontained in the structured query. For example, the task flow model forthe actionable intent of “restaurant reservation” includes steps andinstructions for contacting a restaurant and actually requesting areservation for a particular party size at a particular time. Forexample, using a structured query such as: {restaurant reservation,restaurant=ABC Café, date=3/12/2012, time=7 pm, party size=5}, task flowprocessing module 736 performs the steps of: (1) logging onto a serverof the ABC Café or a restaurant reservation system such as OPENTABLE®,(2) entering the date, time, and party size information in a form on thewebsite, (3) submitting the form, and (4) making a calendar entry forthe reservation in the user's calendar.

In some examples, task flow processing module 736 employs the assistanceof service processing module 738 (“service processing module”) tocomplete a task requested in the user input or to provide aninformational answer requested in the user input. For example, serviceprocessing module 738 acts on behalf of task flow processing module 736to make a phone call, set a calendar entry, invoke a map search, invokeor interact with other user applications installed on the user device,and invoke or interact with third-party services (e.g., a restaurantreservation portal, a social networking website, a banking portal,etc.). In some examples, the protocols and application programminginterfaces (API) required by each service are specified by a respectiveservice model among service models 756. Service processing module 738accesses the appropriate service model for a service and generatesrequests for the service in accordance with the protocols and APIsrequired by the service according to the service model.

For example, if a restaurant has enabled an online reservation service,the restaurant submits a service model specifying the necessaryparameters for making a reservation and the APIs for communicating thevalues of the necessary parameter to the online reservation service.When requested by task flow processing module 736, service processingmodule 738 establishes a network connection with the online reservationservice using the web address stored in the service model, and sends thenecessary parameters of the reservation (e.g., time, date, party size)to the online reservation interface in a format according to the API ofthe online reservation service.

In some examples, natural language processing module 732, dialogue flowprocessing module 734, and task flow processing module 736 are usedcollectively and iteratively to infer and define the user's intent,obtain information to further clarify and refine the user intent, andfinally generate a response (i.e., an output to the user, or thecompletion of a task) to fulfill the user's intent. The generatedresponse is a dialogue response to the speech input that at leastpartially fulfills the user's intent. Further, in some examples, thegenerated response is output as a speech output. In these examples, thegenerated response is sent to speech synthesis processing module 740(e.g., speech synthesizer) where it can be processed to synthesize thedialogue response in speech form. In yet other examples, the generatedresponse is data content relevant to satisfying a user request in thespeech input.

In examples where task flow processing module 736 receives multiplestructured queries from natural language processing module 732, taskflow processing module 736 initially processes the first structuredquery of the received structured queries to attempt to complete thefirst structured query and/or execute one or more tasks or actionsrepresented by the first structured query. In some examples, the firststructured query corresponds to the highest ranked actionable intent. Inother examples, the first structured query is selected from the receivedstructured queries based on a combination of the corresponding speechrecognition confidence scores and the corresponding intent confidencescores. In some examples, if task flow processing module 736 encountersan error during processing of the first structured query (e.g., due toan inability to determine a necessary parameter), the task flowprocessing module 736 can proceed to select and process a secondstructured query of the received structured queries that corresponds toa lower ranked actionable intent. The second structured query isselected, for example, based on the speech recognition confidence scoreof the corresponding candidate text representation, the intentconfidence score of the corresponding candidate actionable intent, amissing necessary parameter in the first structured query, or anycombination thereof.

Speech synthesis processing module 740 is configured to synthesizespeech outputs for presentation to the user. Speech synthesis processingmodule 740 synthesizes speech outputs based on text provided by thedigital assistant. For example, the generated dialogue response is inthe form of a text string. Speech synthesis processing module 740converts the text string to an audible speech output. Speech synthesisprocessing module 740 uses any appropriate speech synthesis technique inorder to generate speech outputs from text, including, but not limited,to concatenative synthesis, unit selection synthesis, diphone synthesis,domain-specific synthesis, formant synthesis, articulatory synthesis,hidden Markov model (HMM) based synthesis, and sinewave synthesis. Insome examples, speech synthesis processing module 740 is configured tosynthesize individual words based on phonemic strings corresponding tothe words. For example, a phonemic string is associated with a word inthe generated dialogue response. The phonemic string is stored inmetadata associated with the word. Speech synthesis processing module740 is configured to directly process the phonemic string in themetadata to synthesize the word in speech form.

In some examples, instead of (or in addition to) using speech synthesisprocessing module 740, speech synthesis is performed on a remote device(e.g., the server system 108), and the synthesized speech is sent to theuser device for output to the user. For example, this can occur in someimplementations where outputs for a digital assistant are generated at aserver system. And because server systems generally have more processingpower or resources than a user device, it is possible to obtain higherquality speech outputs than would be practical with client-sidesynthesis.

Additional details on digital assistants can be found in the U.S.Utility application Ser. No. 12/987,982, entitled “Intelligent AutomatedAssistant,” filed Jan. 10, 2011, and U.S. Utility application Ser. No.13/251,088, entitled “Generating and Processing Task Items ThatRepresent Tasks to Perform,” filed Sep. 30, 2011, the entire disclosuresof which are incorporated herein by reference.

4. Exemplary Functions of an Electronic Device for Providing VirtualAssistant Services Based on Speech Inputs Received from an AccessoryDevice

FIGS. 8A-8C illustrate functionalities of providing virtual assistantservices at one or more virtual-assistant capable electronic devices 800and 830 in response to a speech input received at an accessory device820, according to various examples. In some embodiments, electronicdevices 800 and 830 can be implemented using devices 200, 400, or 600 asdescribed above. As illustrated in FIG. 8A, in some embodiments, one ormore virtual assistants can operate on electronic devices 800 and 830.In some examples, the virtual assistant operating on first electronicdevice 800 (or the server portion of a virtual assistant) and similarlythe virtual assistant operating on second electronic device 830 (or theclient portion of a virtual assistant) are implemented using digitalassistant module 726. The virtual assistants operating on electronicdevices 800 and/or 830 include one or more modules, models,applications, vocabularies, and user data similar to those of digitalassistant module 726. For example, the virtual assistants operating onelectronic devices 800 and/or 830 include the following sub-modules, ora subset or superset thereof: an input/output processing module, an STTprocessing module, a natural language processing module, a task flowprocessing module, and a speech synthesis module. These modules can alsobe implemented similarly to that of the corresponding modules asillustrated in FIG. 7B, and therefore are not shown and not repeatedlydescribed. In some embodiments, the virtual assistants operating onelectronic devices 800 and 830 are portions of a same virtual assistant.

With reference to FIG. 8A, an accessory device (e.g., accessory device820) can be a peripheral or an ancillary device that communicates datawith one or more electronic devices (e.g., electronic devices 800 and830). For example, accessory device 820 can receive speech inputs from auser 810 and transmit representations of the speech inputs (e.g.,compressed digital audio data or text conversion of the audio data) toone or more electronic devices 800 and 830 via wireless connections(e.g., via Bluetooth connections). Accessory device 820 can beimplemented using one or more components or modules of devices 200, 400,or 600 as described above. For example, accessary device 820 can includeone or more controllers (e.g., controller 222) or processors (e.g.,processor 220 such as a digital signal processor, anapplication-specific (ASIC) processor, or the like), memories (e.g.,memory 202), a microphone (e.g., microphone 213), one or more audiooutput components (e.g., one or more earbuds or ear pieces), andcommunication modules and interfaces (e.g., wireless circuitry 714 ofnetwork communications interface 708). In some examples, thecontroller(s) or processor(s) of accessary device 820 has fewerfunctionalities than a processor included in electronic devices 800 or830. For example, the components and/or modules (e.g., controller(s) orprocessor(s)) of accessary device 820 may facilitate the performance oflimited functionalities including audio signal processing, batterymanagement, trigger phrase detection, and wireless communicationsmanagement. In some examples, accessory device 820 is a headphonecapable of performing near-field communication (e.g., Bluetoothcommunication).

In some examples, accessary device 820 does not have the capability orhas limited capabilities of operating a virtual assistant. For example,accessory device 820 may be configured to detect a trigger phase (e.g.,“Hey Assistant”) and transmit representations of user's speech input toone or more electronic devices 800 and 830 for further processing. Butaccessory device 820 may not be configured to perform natural languageprocessing tasks including, for example, user intent determination, taskflow processing, domain recognition, or the like. In some examples,accessory device 820 (e.g., a headphone) may not include a graphicaluser interface to display information and may include only an audio userinterface to facilitate interacting with the user.

With reference to FIG. 8A, in some embodiments, accessory device 820 iscommunicatively coupled to at least one of first electronic device 800and second electronic device 830. In the example shown in FIG. 8A,accessory device 820 is wirelessly coupled to first electronic device800 but not second electronic device 830. Thus, accessory device 820directly communicates with first electronic device 800. Accessory device820 may not communicate directly with second electronic device 830 forany number of reasons. For example, the two devices are not paired viaBluetooth; a communication interface was not enabled on secondelectronic device 830 (e.g., device 830 is placed in airplane mode);battery power has been depleted on second electronic device 830, or thelike. In another example shown in FIG. 9B, accessory device 820 iswirelessly coupled to both first electronic device 800 and secondelectronic device 830. In another example shown in FIG. 11 , accessorydevice 820 is wirelessly coupled to second electronic device 830 but notfirst electronic device 800, and thus communicates directly with secondelectronic device 830. These examples are described in more detailbelow.

With reference back to FIG. 8A, in some embodiments, accessory device820 receives a speech input 824 from user 810. In response to receivingspeech input 824, accessory device 820 determines whether speech input824 includes a trigger phrase. A trigger phrase is a phrase thatrepresents a user request to invoke a virtual assistant. A triggerphrase can be, for example, “Hey Assistant;” “Assistant,” “Wake-upAssistant;” “OK Assistant;” or the like. In the example shown in FIG.8A, accessory device 820 determines that speech input 824 includes atrigger phrase “Hey Assistant.” In accordance with such a determination,accessory device 820 can obtain a determination of whether arepresentation of speech input 824 is to be transmitted to a firstelectronic device 800 (e.g., a smartphone device) or a second electronicdevice 830 (e.g., a wearable device). As described above, in someexamples, first electronic device 800 and second electronic device 830can be both capable of operating virtual assistants (or at least aportion thereof). The virtual assistants operating on first electronicdevice 800 and second electronic device 830 are both capable ofprocessing speech inputs (e.g., speech input 824) and performing naturallanguage processing tasks based on the speech inputs. Thus, there is anambiguity regarding to which device accessory device 820 is to transmitspeech input 824.

With reference to FIG. 8A, in some embodiments, at least one ofaccessory device 820 and an electronic device wirelessly coupled toaccessory device 820 (e.g., first electronic device 800) can determinewhether the representation of speech input 824 should be transmitted tofirst electronic device 800 or second electronic device 830. Such adetermination can be performed based on, for example, whether accessorydevice 820 is wirelessly coupled to first electronic device 800 orsecond electronic device 830. FIG. 8A illustrates an example whereaccessory device 820 is wirelessly coupled to first electronic device800 but not second electronic device 830. Thus, in accordance with adetermination that accessory device 820 is wirelessly coupled to thefirst electronic device 800 but not the second electronic device 830,accessory device 820 and/or first electronic device 800 can determinethat the representation of speech input 824 is to be transmitted to thefirst electronic device 800 but not the second electronic device 830. Inanother example (e.g., example shown in FIG. 11 ), if accessory device820 is not wirelessly coupled to the first electronic device 800, it canbe determined that the representation of the speech input 824 is not tobe transmitted to the first electronic device 800, but to be transmittedto second electronic device 830.

While FIG. 8A illustrates a determination of whether the representationof speech input 824 should be transmitted to first electronic device 800or second electronic device 830 can be based on which electronic deviceis wirelessly coupled to accessory device 820, the determination canalso be based on other criteria or conditions (e.g., defaultconfigurations, last audio communications, statuses of the devices,etc.), which are described in more detail below.

With reference to FIG. 8A, in accordance with a determination that therepresentation of the speech input 824 is to be transmitted to firstelectronic device 800 but not the second electronic device 830,accessory device 820 transmits the representation of speech input 824 tofirst electronic device 800. The representation can be audio datarepresenting speech input 824, compressed audio data, and/or textconverted from audio data representing speech input 824. Firstelectronic device 800 receives the representation of speech input 824.Speech input 824, as illustrated in FIG. 8A, can include a triggerphrase (e.g., “Hey Assistant”). In some examples, in response todetecting the trigger phrase included in the representation of speechinput 824, first electronic device 800 displays a graphical userinterface 826 indicating the receiving of the representation of speechinput 824. As shown in FIG. 8A, for example, on graphical user interface826, first electronic device 800 displays an animation or imageindicating the virtual assistant operating on device 800 is invokedand/or displays a message such as “What can I help you with?” In theexample shown in FIG. 8A, accessory device 820 transmits therepresentation of speech input 824 to first electronic device 800, butnot to second electronic device 830. As a result, the virtual assistantoperating on second electronic device 830 may not be invoked, and thussecond electronic device 830 does not display a graphical user interfaceindicating receiving a representation of a user's speech input.

In some examples, a graphical user interface providing a confirmation tothe user is displayed at the electronic device (e.g., first electronicdevice 800) that receives the representation of the user's speech inputfrom accessory device 820, regardless of whether the task is to beperformed by this electronic device or another electronic device (e.g.,second electronic device 830) in accordance with the user's speechinput. Thus, the user can receive a confirmation of his or her requestfrom a single electronic device rather than from multiple electronicdevices, which may be redundant and may likely cause confusion. The useris thus not required to look at or otherwise direct his or her attentionto another electronic device or multiple electronic devices. Thisenhances the human-machine interface and the overall operatingefficiency of the devices.

With reference to FIG. 8A, in some embodiments, first electronic device800 can detect one or more other electronic devices including, forexample, second electronic device 830. For example, first electronicdevice 800 is communicatively coupled to second electronic device vianear-field communication (e.g., paired via Bluetooth communication).Based on the communicative coupling, first electronic device 800 candetect the presence of second electronic device 830. In the exampleshown in FIG. 8A, second electronic device 830 is illustrated as awearable device such as watch (e.g., a smart watch). It is appreciated,as described above, that second electronic device 830 can be any type ofelectronic device such as a smartphone, a wearable device, anintelligent speaker, an intelligent TV set-top device, or the like.

In some embodiments, after detecting second electronic device 830, firstelectronic device 800 can obtain data associated with detected secondelectronic device 830. For example, first electronic device 800 canobtain metadata, capability data, and/or user-specific data associatedwith second electronic device 830. Metadata associated with secondelectronic device 830 can include, for example, the type of secondelectronic device 830 (e.g., a smart watch, a smartphone, an intelligentTV set-top device, or the like), the device's language information(e.g., English, Chinese, French, or the like), the identification of thevirtual assistant operating on the device, the version information ofthe virtual assistant and/or the device OS software, other devicesettings, or the like.

Capability data of second electronic device 830 can include, forexample, device capabilities, application capabilities, and/orinformational capabilities. Device capabilities can include dataassociated with, for example, the types of sensors installed on thedevice (e.g., optical sensor, microphone, heart rate sensor, force toughsensor, etc.), the size of a display, audio processing capabilities, thenumber of speakers, or the like. Application capabilities can includedata associated with the applications installed on or accessible to thedevice (e.g., a workout application, an activity monitoring application,a heart rate measuring application, or the like). Informationalcapabilities can include data that indicate the availability of certaininformation at the device. As an example, certain user-specific data maybe only available at one device but not at other devices. For instance,the most updated user activity data may only be available at secondelectronic device 830 (e.g., the user's wearable device) but not firstelectronic device 800. Thus, such data are obtained from secondelectronic device 830.

In some examples, user-specific data associated with second electronicdevice 830 can include, for example, the user's activity data (e.g.,past and/or current activity data), the user's heart-rate data, theuser's location data, user's contacts, calendar, etc.). It isappreciated that other than metadata, capability data, and/oruser-specific data, other data associated with second electronic device830 can also be obtained or made available to first electronic device800. Such data may include, for example, non-user specific data (e.g.,news, stocks, etc.) that are stored on or accessible to secondelectronic device 830.

With reference to FIG. 8B, in some embodiments, first electronic device800 can obtain data (e.g., metadata, capability data, and/oruser-specific data) associated with second electronic device 830regardless of whether a representation of speech input is received atfirst electronic device 800. For example, first electronic device 800can obtain the data associated with second electronic device 830 afterit is communicatively coupled to second electronic device 830, even ifit does not receive representation of any speech input from accessorydevice 820. The obtaining of the data can be performed periodically oraccording to a preconfigured schedule. Thus, at the time firstelectronic device 800 receives the representation of speech input 824,it may already have at least a portion of data associated with secondelectronic device 830. As a result, first electronic device 800 cantransmit the data associated with second electronic device 830 to athird electronic device 840 for natural language processing at a fasterrate or improved performance.

In some embodiments, first electronic device 800 can obtain data (e.g.,metadata, capability data, and/or user-specific data) associated withsecond electronic device 830 after receiving representation of speechinput 824. For example, to preserve battery power, periodicalsynchronization of data between first electronic device 800 and secondelectronic device 830 may not be desirable and therefore, datatransmitting between the devices may occur only as required.

With reference to FIG. 8B, in some embodiments, after obtaining datafrom second electronic device 830, first electronic device 800 transmitsa representation of a user request and data associated with secondelectronic device 830 to a third electronic device 840 (e.g., a serversuch as a natural language processing server). As described above, firstelectronic device 800 displays graphical user interface 826, which mayprovide a text message corresponding to the user's speech input (e.g.,“Start a workout”). First electronic device 800 transmits therepresentation of the user request (e.g., the text message “Start aworkout”) and data associated with second electronic device 830 to thirdelectronic device 840 for natural language processing. In someembodiments, first electronic device 800 can also transmit dataassociated with itself to third electronic device 840. Similar to thosedescribed above, these data can include metadata, capability data,and/or user-specific data associated with first electronic device 800.

In some embodiments, after receiving the representation of the userrequest (e.g., the user request to start a workout) and data associatedwith one or both of first electronic device 800 and second electronicdevice 830 (e.g., metadata, capability data, and/or user-specific dataof one or both devices 800 and 830), third electronic device 840 (e.g.,a natural language processing server as described above) determineswhether a task is to be performed by first electronic device 800 orsecond electronic device 830 in accordance with the user requestrepresented by speech input 824 (e.g., a user request to start aworkout). Third electronic device 840 can make such a determinationbased on one or more of intent derived from the representation of theuser request, capability data associated with at least one of the firstelectronic device and the second electronic device, and user-specificdata.

In some examples, based on intent derived from the representation of theuser request, third electronic device 840 determines whether a task isto be performed by first electronic device 800 or second electronicdevice 830 in accordance with the user request. For example, a speechinput accessory device 820 received may include an explicit reference tothe device that the user intends to use (e.g., “Hey Assistant, start aworkout on my watch.”). As a result, intent can be derived based on suchan explicit reference. The derivation of user intent is described indetail above and thus not repeatedly described. In this example, basedon the derived user intent to use the watch to perform the task, thirdelectronic device 840 (e.g., a natural language processing server)determines that the task of starting a workout application is to beperformed by second electronic device 830, not first electronic device800.

In some examples, based on capability data associated with one or bothof first electronic device 800 and second electronic device 830, thirdelectronic device 840 determines whether a task is to be performed byfirst electronic device 800 or second electronic device 830 inaccordance with the user request. As described above, capability datamay include device capability, application capability, and/orinformational capability. For example, based on the capability data ofsecond electronic device 830, third electronic device 840 determinesthat second electronic device 830 is a wearable device, which has aworkout application and sensors for the workout application (e.g., adistance sensor such as a GPS, a heart-rate sensor, an accelerometer, agyroscope, etc.). Similarly, based on the capability data of firstelectronic device 800, third electronic device 840 determines that firstelectronic device 800 may not have a workout application installed ormay not have at least some of the sensors such as a heart-rate sensor.Accordingly, third electronic device 840 determines that the task ofstarting a workout application is to be performed by second electronicdevice 830, not by first electronic device 800. This determination canbe made regardless of whether it is first electronic device 800 orsecond electronic device 830 that receives the user request representedby speech input 824 from accessory device 820.

As described above, in some examples, based on capability data of theelectronic devices, third electronic device 840 may determine thatcertain applications (e.g., an activity monitoring application, aheart-rate measuring application, a workout application, a meditationapplication, etc.) are only available on one electronic device, but notother devices. As a result, third electronic device 840 determines thatthe task user requested is to be performed by the device that has theproper application for performing the task. In some examples, based oncapability data of the devices, third electronic device 840 maydetermine that certain applications and/or sensors are available at twoor more devices. For example, a workout application may be availableboth on first electronic device 800 (e.g., a smartphone) and thirdelectronic device 830 (e.g., a wearable device). In this example,whether a task is to be performed at first electronic device 800 orthird electronic device 830 can be determined based on other data, suchas user-specific data.

In some examples, based on user-specific data, third electronic device840 determines whether a task is to be performed by first electronicdevice 800 or second electronic device 830 in accordance with the userrequest. Continuing with the above example, first electronic device 800and second electronic device 830 may both have a workout applicationinstalled. Thus, the user can either carry first electronic device 800(e.g., a smartphone) or second electronic device 830 (e.g., a wearabledevice) for his workout. Based on user-specific data, third electronicdevice 840 may determine that the particular user has been using secondelectronic device 830 for most of the past workouts and thus infer thatthe user prefers to use second electronic device 830 for workouts. As aresult, third electronic device 830 determines that the task of startinga workout application is to be performed by second electronic device830, not first electronic device 800. This determination can be maderegardless of whether first electronic device 800 or second electronicdevice 830 receives the user request represented by speech input 824from accessory device 820.

By using the data associated with one or both of first electronic device800 and second electronic device 830 (e.g., capability data and/oruser-specific data), the determination of which device is to be selectedto respond to the user request or perform a task according to the userrequest can be intelligently made. For example, if the electronic devicethat receives the user request from the accessory device does not havethe proper application or sensor to perform a task based on the userrequest, a determination can be made to invoke another electronic deviceto perform the required task. As described in more detail below, audiodata corresponding to the performance of the task can also be routedback to accessory device 820. As a result, the user is not required tomanually select an electronic device to perform a task and/or notrequired to establish a direct connection between the accessory deviceand the electronic device that performs the task. This enhances thehuman-machine interface and the overall operating efficiency of thedevices.

With reference to FIG. 8C, after third electronic device 840 determineswhether a task is to be performed by first electronic device 800 orsecond electronic device 830, it transmits the determination (e.g., vianetwork 850) to first electronic device 800. In some embodiments, thedetermination includes an identification of a device (e.g., a device IDas part of metadata of electronic devices 800 and/or 830 provided tothird electronic device 840) and a command for the identified device toperform the task in accordance with the user request. Continuing withthe above example, third electronic device 840 identifies secondelectronic device 830 for performing the task of starting a workoutapplication and generates a command for second electronic device 830 toperform the task (e.g., a command to initiate the workout application).As a result, first electronic device 800 receives the device ID ofsecond electronic device 830 and the command from third electronicdevice 840.

Based on the device ID, first electronic device 800 determines thatsecond electronic device 830 is to perform the required task, andtherefore requests second electronic device 830 to perform the task inaccordance with the user request. Continuing with the above exampleshown in FIG. 8C, based on the device ID received from third electronicdevice 840, first electronic device 800 transmits the received commandfor initiating the workout application to second electronic device 830.Thus, the command can be automatically and intelligently routed to aparticular device (in this example, second electronic device 830) thathas the capability or is a preferred/optimal device to perform the taskthrough another device (e.g., first electronic device 800 that receivesthe user request).

Accordingly, the user is not required to manually identify and invoke aparticular electronic device to perform a task. Rather, the user cansimply provide a speech input to the accessory device that is directlycoupled to at least one electronic device (e.g., as shown in FIG. 8B,accessory device 820 may be only wirelessly coupled to first electronicdevice 800). Further, establishing a direct coupling between theaccessory device and the electronic device that performs the task is notrequired. The user request can be received (e.g., routed to thirdelectronic device 840 through first electronic device 800) fordetermining which device should perform the task and for obtaining acommand. The command can subsequently be routed to a particularelectronic device (e.g., routed to second electronic device 830 throughfirst electronic device 800) to perform the task according to the userrequest. This significantly reduces or eliminates the user's burden ofmanually determining and selecting an electronic device for performingthe desired task, logging into the device, identifying the properapplication, and initiating the application. The user simply needs toprovide a speech input to the accessary device and the desired task canbe performed by an electronic device that is capable and/or suitable forperforming the task. Thus, the techniques described in this disclosureenhance the human-machine interface and the overall operating efficiencyof the devices.

With reference to FIG. 8C, continuing with the above example, firstelectronic device 800 transmits the command for performing a task ofinitiating a workout application to second electronic device 830. Secondelectronic device 830 initiates the workout application and displays acorresponding graphical user interface 832. In some examples, audio datacorresponding to the performing of the task by second electronic device830 can be transmitted to the accessory device 820. With reference toFIG. 8C, the audio data can include representations of speech outputssuch as “outdoor run starting in 3, 2, 1 . . . ” and “you have completed2 miles, goal achieved.” In some examples, if accessory device 820 isdirectly coupled to second electronic device 830, the audio datacorresponding to the performing of the task in accordance with the userrequest can be transmitted directly from the second electronic device830 to the accessory device 820. In some examples, if accessory device820 is not directly coupled to second electronic device 830, the audiodata corresponding to the performing of the task in accordance with theuser request can be transmitted from second electronic device 830 toaccessory device 820 through first electronic device 800 (e.g., routedthrough first electronic device 800).

With reference to FIG. 8C, in some embodiments, after second electronicdevice 830 starts to perform the task in accordance with the userrequest, it can communicate with first electronic device 800 to indicatethat the performance of the task has been initiated. Based on thecommunication from second electronic device 830, first electronic device830 can display a visual response to the user request and transmit audiodata corresponding to the visual response to accessory device 820.Continuing with the above example, after second electronic device 830initiates the workout application, it may transmit an application statusindicator to first electronic device 800. Based on the applicationstatus indicator, first electronic device 800 displays a message such as“Workout started on your watch,” and transmits audio data correspondingto the message to accessory device 820. Accessory device 820 can thenoutput a corresponding speech such as “Workout started on your watch” touser 810.

FIG. 8D illustrates an exemplary data flow between devices for providingvirtual assistant services, corresponding to the description above withrespect to FIGS. 8A-8C. As shown in FIG. 8D, in some embodiments,accessory device 820 (e.g., a headphone) receives a speech inputrepresenting a user request (e.g., “Hey Assistant, start a workout.”).In response to receiving the speech input representing a user request,accessory device 820 determines whether the speech input includes atrigger phrase (e.g., “Hey Assistant”). In accordance with adetermination that the speech input includes a trigger phrase, accessorydevice 820 obtains a determination of whether a representation of thespeech input is to be transmitted to first electronic device 800 orsecond electronic device 830. Such a determination can be performedbased on one or more criteria or conditions as described above. Inaccordance with a determination that the representation of the speechinput is to be transmitted to the first electronic device 800 but notthe second electronic device 830, accessory device 820 transmits therepresentation of the speech input to first electronic device 800.

As illustrated in FIG. 8D, in addition to receiving the representationof the speech input, first electronic device 800 also receives dataassociated with second electronic device 830 (e.g., metadata, capabilitydata, user-specific data). First electronic device 800 can transmit therepresentation of the speech input and device data to third electronicdevice 840 (e.g., a NLP server) for determining whether a task is to beperformed by the first electronic device 800 or second electronic device830 in accordance with the user request. In some embodiments, the devicedata transmitted by first electronic device 800 include data associatedwith at least one of second electronic device 830 (e.g., metadata,capability data, user-specific data) and data associated with firstelectronic device 800 (e.g., metadata, capability data, user-specificdata).

With reference to FIG. 8D, third electronic device 840 determineswhether a task is to be performed by first electronic device 800 orsecond electronic device 830 in accordance with the user request. Asdescribed above, such a determination can be made based on one or moreof intent derived from the representation of the user request;capability data associated with at least one of first electronic device800 and second electronic device 830; and user-specific data. Thirdelectronic device 840 transmits the determination of which device is toperform the task to first electronic device 800. In some embodiments,the determination includes a device ID and a command. In the examplesillustrated in FIGS. 8A-8C, third electronic device 840 determines thatsecond electronic device 830 is to perform the task, e.g., of initiatinga workout application.

As shown in FIG. 8D, first electronic device 800 receives thedetermination including, for example, the device ID of second electronicdevice 830 and the command for initiating the workout application.Subsequently, first electronic device 800 uses the device ID to identifysecond electronic device 830 for performing the task of initial aworkout application, and transmits the command to second electronicdevice 830. The command causes the second electronic device 830 toperform the task in accordance with the user request (e.g., initiate theworkout application). In some embodiments, audio data corresponding tothe performing of the task by second electronic device 830 aretransmitted to accessory device 820. FIG. 8D illustrates that the audiodata are transmitted from second electronic device 830 to accessorydevice 820 through first electronic device 800. In other embodiments,the audio data can be transmitted directly from second electronic device830 to accessory device 820.

As described above with respect to FIG. 8A, a determination of whetherthe representation of speech input 824 should be transmitted to firstelectronic device 800 or second electronic device 830 can be based onwhich electronic device is wirelessly coupled to accessory device 820.In some embodiments, the determination of whether the representation ofa speech input received by accessory device 820 should be transmitted tofirst electronic device 800 or second electronic device 830 can be basedon other criteria or conditions, as described below in FIGS. 9A-9C.

FIGS. 9A-9C illustrate examples of determining whether therepresentation of a speech input should be transmitted to firstelectronic device 800 or second electronic device 830 based on the lastaudio communication. With reference to FIG. 9A, similar to FIG. 8A,accessory device 820 is wirelessly coupled to first electronic device800, which is wirelessly coupled to second electronic device 830. Insome embodiments as shown in FIG. 9A, accessory device 820 is alsowirelessly coupled to second electronic device 830 (e.g., via Bluetoothconnection). As described above, first electronic device 800 and secondelectronic device 830 are both virtual-assistant capable devices thatcan process speech inputs. Thus, if accessory device 820 receives aspeech input, the representation of the speech input may be transmittedto either first electronic device 800 or second electronic device 830,because the two devices are both wirelessly coupled to accessory device820.

With reference to FIG. 9B, in some embodiments, before accessory device820 receives a speech input, first electronic device 800, but not secondelectronic device 830, may be in audio communication with accessorydevice 820 (e.g., streaming music from first electronic device 800 toaccessory device 820). It is appreciated that in other embodiments,before accessory device 820 receives a speech input, second electronicdevice 830, but not first electronic device 800, may be in audiocommunication with accessory device 820.

With reference to FIG. 9C, accessory device 820 receives a speech input924 (e.g., “Hey Assistant, start a workout.”). Similar to thosedescribed above, in response to receiving speech input 924, accessorydevice 820 determines whether speech input 924 includes a trigger phrase(e.g., “Hey Assistant”). In accordance with a determination that speechinput 924 includes a trigger phrase, accessory device 820 obtains adetermination of whether a representation of speech input 924 is to betransmitted to first electronic device 800 or second electronic device830. In some examples, such a determination can be based on whichelectronic device was last in audio communication with accessory device820. In the example illustrated in FIG. 9C, the determination can bemade by one or more of accessory device 820, first electronic device800, or second electronic device 830.

In the example shown in FIG. 9C, at least one of the accessory device820 and the first electronic device 800 determines that the last audiocommunication before receiving speech input 924 was between accessorydevice 820 and first electronic device 800, but not second electronicdevice 830. As shown in FIG. 9B, in accordance with a determination thatthe accessory device 820 is in audio communication with the firstelectronic device 800 before receiving the speech input 924, therepresentation of the speech input 924 is determined to be transmittedto first electronic device 800 but not the second electronic device 830.According to such a determination, accessory device 820 transmits therepresentation of speech input 924 to first electronic device 800.Conversely, in accordance with a determination that the accessory device820 is in audio communication with second electronic device 800 beforereceiving the speech input 924, the representation of the speech input924 is determined to be transmitted to second electronic device 830 butnot first electronic device 800.

With reference to FIG. 9C, in some embodiments, accessory device 820 canbe determined to be in audio communication with first electronic device800 if the two devices are communicating within a pre-determined timewindow (e.g., an 8-minute window) before receiving speech input 924. Forexample, first electronic device 800 may have stopped streaming audio toaccessory device 820 a few minutes (e.g., 5 minutes) before speech input924 is received at accessory device 820, and thus the two devices arenot in audio communication with each other immediately before receivingspeech input 924. In some examples, at least one of accessory device 820and first electronic device 800 can determine the time lapse (e.g., 5minutes) since the most recent audio communication between the twodevices, compare the time lapse to a pre-determined time window (e.g.,an 8-minute window) to determine whether the time lapse is less than orequal to the pre-determined time window, and determine whether the twodevices are in audio communication within the pre-determined timewindow. For example, if the time lapse since the most recent audiocommunication between the two devices is 5 minutes, and thepre-determined time window is 8 minutes, at least one of accessorydevice 820 and first electronic device 800 determines that the twodevices are in audio communication with each other before receivingspeech input 924. As a result, it is determined that the representationof speech input 924 is to be transmitted from accessory device 820 tofirst electronic device 800.

If an accessory device has been in audio communication with a particularelectronic device before the user's speech input is received, it can bemore efficient to transmit the representation of the speech input fromthe accessory device to the particular electronic device, rather thansearching and establishing a connection with another electronic device.The particular electronic device can then intelligently and effectivelyroute the user request represented by the speech input and/or command toanother electronic device if required (e.g., as described above withrespect to FIGS. 8A-8C). This enhances the overall operation efficiencyof the devices and improves the human-machine interface.

FIGS. 10A-10B illustrate functionalities of providing virtual assistantservices based on one or more statuses of the devices, according tovarious examples. With reference to FIG. 10A, similar to those describedabove, accessory device 820 receives speech input 1024 and determinesthat speech input 1024 (e.g., “Hey Assistant, start a workout.”)includes a trigger phase (e.g., “Hey Assistant”). Accordingly, accessorydevice 820 obtains a determination of whether a representation of speechinput 1024 is to be transmitted to first electronic device 800 or secondelectronic device 830. In some embodiments, the determination can beperformed based on one or more statuses of the devices.

As shown in FIG. 10A, in some embodiments, the determination of whethera representation of speech input 1024 is to be transmitted to firstelectronic device 800 or second electronic device 830 can be based onone or more coupling statuses between the devices. For example,accessory device 820 can determine whether it is wirelessly coupled(e.g., via Bluetooth pairing) to first electronic device 800 or secondelectronic device 830. In the example shown in FIG. 10A, accessorydevice 820 is paired with first electronic device 800, but not secondelectronic device 830 (e.g., FIG. 10A shows that second electronicdevice 830 is searching for Bluetooth headphone, but not paired, asindicated by graphical user interface 1032). Thus, accessory device 820determines that it is wirelessly coupled to first electronic device 800but not second electronic device 830. As a result, at least one ofaccessory device 820 and first electronic device 800 determines that therepresentation of speech input 1024 is to be transmitted to firstelectronic device 800 but not second electronic device 830. Conversely,if accessory device 820 determines that it is not wirelessly coupled tofirst electronic device 800, the representation of speech input 1024 isthen determined not to be transmitted to first electronic device 800.

With reference to FIG. 10B, in some embodiments, the determination ofwhether a representation of speech input 1024 is to be transmitted tofirst electronic device 800 or second electronic device 830 can be basedon one or more statuses other than communication coupling statuses. Forexample, as shown in FIG. 10B, accessory device 820 may be wirelesslycoupled to both first electronic device 800 and second electronic device830. In some embodiments, other device statuses (e.g., battery level,signal strength, whether one device is currently in use for performingother tasks, etc.) can be used to determine which electronic device isto receive the representation of speech input 1024. For example, asillustrated in FIG. 10B, second electronic device 830 (e.g., a wearabledevice) may determine that it is low on battery power (e.g., secondelectronic device 830 displays a graphical user interface 836 indicatingthat the device has about 20% power remaining), while first electronicdevice 800 may determine that it has almost full battery power (e.g.,96% of power remaining). Based on the statuses of the battery power ofthe devices, at least one of accessory device 820, first electronicdevice 800, and second electronic device 830 can thus determine thatrepresentation of speech input 1024 is not to be transmitted to secondelectronic device 830, but rather be transmitted to first electronicdevice 800.

In some embodiments, if a particular electronic device has more batterypower and/or signal strength than another electronic device, it can bemore efficient to transmit the user request from the accessory device tothe particular electronic device, rather than communicating with anotherelectronic device that has less battery power and/or weaker signalstrength. The particular electronic device can then intelligently andeffectively route the user request to another device if required. Thisenhances the overall operation efficiency of the devices and improvesthe human-machine interface.

In some embodiments, the determination of whether a representation ofspeech input 1024 is to be transmitted to first electronic device 800 orsecond electronic device 830 can be based on a pre-determinedconfiguration. For example, if the communication coupling status and thebattery power/signal strength status of both devices do notsignificantly weight one device more than another device, thedetermination of to which device the representation of speech input 1024is to be transmitted can be based on a default configuration (e.g.,first electronic device 800 can be the default device to which therepresentations of speech inputs should be transmitted).

FIG. 11 illustrates another example of providing virtual assistantservices in response to a speech input received at accessory device 820.Similar to those described above, accessory device 820 receives a speechinput 1124 (e.g., “Hey Assistant, start a web-search.”). Accessorydevice 820 determines that speech input 1124 includes a trigger phrase(e.g., “Hey Assistant”). Accordingly, accessory device 820 obtains adetermination of whether the representation of speech input 1124 is tobe transmitted to first electronic device 800 or second electronicdevice 830. In some examples, as illustrated in FIG. 11 , firstelectronic device 800 may not be wirelessly coupled to accessory device820; and/or accessory device 820 may have been in audio communicationwith second electronic device 830 (e.g., before receiving speech input1124, accessory device 820 may have been receiving audio datacorresponding to a workout application operating on second electronicdevice 830). Accordingly, accessory device 820 obtains a determinationthat the representation of speech input 1124 is to be transmitted tosecond electronic device 830, but not first electronic device 800.

Similar to those described above, second electronic device 830 can becommunicatively coupled to first electronic device 800 (e.g., viaBluetooth pairing). Thus, second electronic device 830 can obtain data(e.g., metadata, capability data, and/or user-specific data) associatedwith first electronic device 800. After obtaining data from firstelectronic device 830, second electronic device 830 transmits arepresentation of a user request and data associated with firstelectronic device 800 to third electronic device 840 (e.g., a serversuch as a natural language processing server) via network 850. In someembodiments, second electronic device 830 displays graphical userinterface 1132, which may provide a text message corresponding to theuser's speech input 1124 (e.g., “Start a web-search”). The text messagemay represent the user request included in speech input 1124. Secondelectronic device 830 transmits the representation of the user request(e.g., the text representation of the speech input “Start a web-search”)and data associated with first electronic device 800 to third electronicdevice 840 via network 850. In some embodiments, second electronicdevice 830 can also transmit data associated with itself to thirdelectronic device 840.

In some embodiments, after receiving the representation of the userrequest (e.g., the user request to “start a web-search”) and dataassociated with one or both of first electronic device 800 and secondelectronic device 830 (e.g., metadata, capability data, and/oruser-specific data of one or both devices 800 and 830), third electronicdevice 840 (e.g., a natural language processing server as describedabove) determines whether a task is to be performed by first electronicdevice 800 or second electronic device 830 in accordance with the userrequest represented by speech input 1124 (e.g., a user request to starta web-search). Similar to those described above, third electronic device840 can make such a determination based on one or more of intent derivedfrom the representation of the user request, capability data associatedwith at least one of the first electronic device and the secondelectronic device, and user-specific data.

In the example shown in FIG. 11 , based on the capability data, thirdelectronic device 840 may determine that second electronic device 830(e.g., a wearable device) does not have or has limited capability forperforming a task of web-searching. For example, third electronic device840 determines that second electronic device 830 does not have a webbrowsing application, but first electronic device 800 has a web browsingapplication. Accordingly, third electronic device 840 determines thatthe task of performing a web-search is to be performed by firstelectronic device 800 but not second electronic device 830, despite thatsecond electronic device 830 receives the user request represented byspeech input 1124.

FIGS. 8A-11 illustrate examples of providing virtual assistant servicesusing a single accessory device 820 and two electronic devices (e.g.,first electronic device 800 and second electronic device 830). It isappreciated that additional electronic devices can be included forperforming a task the user requests through accessory device 820. FIG.12 illustrates functionalities of providing virtual assistant servicesat one or more additional electronic devices (e.g., fourth electronicdevice 860 and fifth electronic device 870) in response to a userrequest received at accessory device 820, according to various examples.

As illustrated in FIG. 12 , in some embodiments, accessory device 820can be wirelessly coupled to first electronic device 800. Firstelectronic device 800 can be communicatively coupled to one or more ofsecond electronic device 830 (e.g., a wearable device), a fourthelectronic device 860 (e.g., an intelligent TV set-top box), and a fifthelectronic device 870 (e.g., an intelligent speaker). Similar to thosedescribed above, accessory device 820 receives a speech input 1224(e.g., “Hey Assistant, play a movie.”) from user 810. Accessory device820 determines that the speech input 1224 includes a trigger phrase(e.g., “Hey Assistant”) and thus obtains a determination of to whichdevice (e.g., devices 800, 830, 860, or 870) the representation ofspeech input 1224 is to be transmitted. As described above, thisdetermination can be performed based on, for example, the communicationcoupling statuses of the devices, the battery power statuses of thedevices, the signal strength statuses of the devices, any other devicestatuses, and/or a pre-determined configuration.

In the example shown in FIG. 12 , accessory device 820 obtains adetermination that the representation of speech input 1224 is to betransmitted to first electronic device 800 (e.g., because only firstelectronic device 800 is paired with accessory device 820). Accessorydevice 820 thus transmits the representation of speech input 1224 tofirst electronic device 800.

Similar to those described above, first electronic device 800 detectselectronic devices 830, 860, and 870, which may be all communicativelycoupled to first electronic device 800. First electronic device 800obtains data associated with devices 830, 860, and 870 (e.g., capabilitydata and user-specific data associated with the devices); and transmitsrepresentation of speech input 1224 and data associated with thedetected electronic devices 830, 860, and 870 to the third electronicdevice 840 (e.g., a natural language processing server). Based on therepresentation of speech input 1224 and data associated with thedetected electronic devices 830, 860, and 870, third electronic device840 can determine which device is to perform the task in accordance withthe user request. For example, as shown in FIG. 12 , third electronicdevice 840 may determine that fourth electronic device 860 (e.g., anintelligent TV set-top box) has the capability of streaming a movie andis associated with a TV device. As a result, device 860 is the optimaldevice to perform the task of playing a movie as the user requested.

Third electronic device 840 can thus transmit the determination to firstelectronic device 800. Similar to those described above, thedetermination may include a device ID for identifying the device toperform the task and a command. First electronic device 800 receives thedetermination from third electronic device 840 and in accordance withthe received determination, requests fourth electronic device 860 toperform the task of playing a move. For example, first electronic device800 can transmit the command received from third electronic device 840to fourth electronic device 860 to cause the movie to be played on a TVdevice 862. Accordingly, fourth electronic device 860 starts a movieapplication and begins streaming the movie to TV device 862. In someembodiments, first electronic device 800 displays a graphical userinterface 1126 providing a message indicating that the task is beingperformed (e.g., “movie is playing on your TV.”).

Similar to those described above, in some embodiments, after fourthelectronic device 860 starts to perform the task the user requested,audio data corresponding to performing the task can be transmitted tothe accessory device 820. For example, the audio portion of a movie canbe transmitted from fourth electronic device 860 to accessory device 820(e.g., either directly or through first electronic device 800).

While the above examples illustrate that a user request received at anaccessory device (e.g., device 820) is routed through a singleelectronic device (e.g., first electronic device 800) to a proper device(e.g., third electronic device 840) for determining which device is toperform a task in accordance with the user request, it is appreciatedthat the user request can be routed through any number of devices. Forexample, in FIG. 12 , if first electronic device 800 receives therepresentation of speech input 1224 but cannot directly communicate withthird electronic device 840 (e.g., an NLP server), first electronicdevice 800 can transmit the representation of speech input 1224 toanother device (e.g., fifth electronic device 870), which can thentransmit the representation of speech input 1224 to third electronicdevice 840 for determining which device is to perform a task inaccordance with the user request.

Similarly, the determination of which device is to perform a task inaccordance with the user request (e.g., the device ID and the command)can be received at one device (e.g., device 870) and routed to a properdevice (e.g. device 860 for performing the task) directly or through anynumber of other devices (e.g., routed through device 800). And the audiodata associated with the performing of the task can also be routed fromthe device that performs the task (e.g., device 860) to accessory device820 directly or through any number of devices (e.g., through device800).

5. Processes for Providing Virtual Assistant Services and forDisambiguating a Speech Input

FIGS. 13A-13B illustrate a flow diagram of an exemplary process 1300 forproviding virtual assistant services in accordance with someembodiments. Process 1300 is performed, for example, using one or moreelectronic devices implementing one or more virtual assistants. In someexamples, process 1300 is performed using a client-server system (e.g.,system 100), and the blocks of process 1300 are divided up in any mannerbetween the server (e.g., DA server 106) and a client device. In otherexamples, the blocks of process 1300 are divided up between the serverand multiple client devices (e.g., a mobile phone and a smart watch).Thus, while portions of process 1300 are described herein as beingperformed by particular devices of a client-server system, it will beappreciated that process 1300 is not so limited. In other examples,process 1300 is performed using only a client device (e.g., user device104) or only multiple client devices. In process 1300, some blocks are,optionally, combined, the order of some blocks is, optionally, changed,and some blocks are, optionally, omitted. In some examples, additionalsteps may be performed in combination with the process 1300.

As described above, processes described in this application includeinvoking a virtual assistant operating on an electronic device based ona speech input from an accessory device. As described herein, the user'sspeech input (or a representation thereof) to invoke a virtual assistantand to perform certain tasks can be received for intelligently andautomatically selecting a particular electronic device among multipledevices for performing the task. Based on the selection, a command canbe generated and intelligently and effectively routed to a particularelectronic device that is capable or suitable to perform the requestedtasks. The intelligent routing can be performed even if the particularelectronic device is not communicatively coupled to the accessory devicedirectly. The techniques described in this application thus provide animproved and more efficient human-machine interface by reducing oreliminating the burden for a user to manually or explicitly select adevice for performing a task. The techniques thus improve the efficiencyand the user-experience of a human-machine interface, and enhance theoperability of the devices. This in turn reduces power usage andimproves battery life of the accessory device and the electronic devicesby enabling the user to use the devices more quickly and efficiently.

With reference to FIG. 13A, at block 1302, a representation of a speechinput representing a user request is received from an accessory device(e.g., accessory device 820 shown in FIG. 8A) communicatively coupled toa first electronic device (e.g., device 800 such as a smartphone shownin FIG. 8A). At block 1304, a second electronic device (e.g., device 830such as a wearable device shown in FIG. 8A) is detected. In someexamples, the accessory device is a headphone capable of performingnear-field communication. In some examples, the accessory device iswirelessly coupled to both the first electronic device and the secondelectronic device. In other examples, the accessory device is wirelesslycoupled to the first electronic device, but not the second electronicdevice. Further, the first electronic device and the second electronicdevice are both capable of operating virtual assistants to processspeech inputs. In some examples, the first electronic device iscommunicatively coupled to the second electronic device via near-fieldcommunication.

At block 1306, a graphical user interface indicating the receiving ofthe representation of the speech input is displayed at the firstelectronic device. As one example shown in FIG. 8A and described above,a message such as “What can I help you with?” is displayed on graphicaluser interface 826. At block 1308, a representation of the user request(e.g., a request to start a workout application as illustrated by FIG.8B) and data associated with the detected second electronic device aretransmitted from the first electronic device to a third electronicdevice (e.g., device 840 such as an NLP server shown in FIG. 8B). Insome examples, the data associated with the detected second electronicdevice include one or more of: metadata of the detected secondelectronic device; capability data associated with the detected secondelectronic device; and user-specific data stored in the detected secondelectronic device. In some examples, the capability data associated withthe first electronic device or the second comprises one or more of:device capability; application capability; and informational capability.The details of the capability data are described above and notrepeatedly described here.

At block 1310, data associated with the first electronic device aretransmitted from the first electronic device to a third electronicdevice. In some examples, the data associated with the first electronicdevice include one or more of: metadata of the first electronic device;capability data associated with the first electronic device; anduser-specific data stored in first electronic device.

At block 1312, a determination of whether a task is to be performed bythe second electronic device in accordance with the user request isreceived from the third electronic device. As an example described abovewith respect to FIG. 8C, device 840 (e.g., an NLP server) determineswhether the task is to be performed by device 800 (e.g., a smartphone)or device 830 (e.g., a wearable device). In some examples, thedetermination of whether a task is to be performed by the secondelectronic device in accordance with the user request is performed atthe third electronic device based on one or more of intent derived fromthe representation of the user request; capability data associated withat least one of the first electronic device and the second electronicdevice; and user-specific data. At block 1314, a command that causes thesecond electronic device to perform the task in accordance with the userrequest is received as at least a portion of the determination ofwhether a task is to be performed by the second electronic device.Continuing with the example described above with respect to FIG. 8C,device 800 receives a determination from device 840 (e.g., an NLPserver). The determination includes an identification of device 830 anda command that causes device 830 to perform the task of starting aworkout application.

At block 1316, in accordance with a determination that a task is to beperformed by the second electronic device, the second electronic deviceis requested to perform the task in accordance with the user request. Atblock 1318, requesting the second electronic device to perform the taskincludes transmitting the command to the second electronic device. Inthe example illustrated in FIG. 8C, first electronic device 800transmits the command for starting a workout application to secondelectronic device 830. In some examples, audio data corresponding to theperforming of the task by the second electronic device are transmittedto the accessory device. For example, the audio data corresponding tothe performing of the task in accordance with the user request can betransmitted directly from the second electronic device to the accessorydevice. As another example, the audio data corresponding to theperforming of the task in accordance with the user request can betransmitted from the second electronic device to the accessory devicethrough the first electronic device.

With reference to FIG. 13B, at block 1320, in accordance with adetermination that the task is to be performed by the second electronicdevice, a visual response to the user request is displayed (e.g., amessage such as “Workout started on your watch” as shown in FIG. 8C). Atblock 1322, audio data corresponding to the visual response aretransmitted to the accessory device.

At block 1324, one or more additional electronic devices are detected.At block 1326, data associated with the detected additional one or moreelectronic devices are transmitted from the first electronic device tothe third electronic device. At block 1328, a determination of whether atask is to be performed by the one or more additional electronic devicesin accordance with the user request is received from the thirdelectronic device. At block 1330, in accordance with a determinationthat a task is to be performed by the one or more additional electronicdevices and not the second electronic device, the one or more additionalelectronic devices are requested to perform the task in accordance withthe user request. In some examples, audio data corresponding toperforming of the task by the one or more additional electronic deviceare transmitted to the accessory device. As described above, FIG. 12illustrates an example of providing virtual assistant services at one ofmultiple electronic devices (e.g., devices 800, 830, 860, and 870) inresponse to a speech input received at an accessory device (e.g., device820).

FIGS. 14A-14B illustrate a flow diagram of an exemplary process 1400 fordisambiguating a speech input in accordance with some embodiments.Process 1400 is performed, for example, using one or more electronicdevices implementing one or more virtual assistants. In some examples,process 1400 is performed using a client-server system (e.g., system100), and the blocks of process 1400 are divided up in any mannerbetween the server (e.g., DA server 106) and a client device. In otherexamples, the blocks of process 1400 are divided up between the serverand multiple client devices (e.g., a mobile phone and a smart watch).Thus, while portions of process 1400 are described herein as beingperformed by particular devices of a client-server system, it will beappreciated that process 1400 is not so limited. In other examples,process 1400 is performed using only a client device (e.g., user device104) or only multiple client devices. In process 1400, some blocks are,optionally, combined, the order of some blocks is, optionally, changed,and some blocks are, optionally, omitted. In some examples, additionalsteps may be performed in combination with the process 1400.

With reference to FIG. 14A, at block 1402, a speech input representing auser request is received at an accessory device (e.g., device 820 asshown in FIGS. 8A-8C, 9A-9C, 10A-10B, 11, and 12 ) communicativelycoupled to at least one of a first electronic device (e.g., device 800as shown in FIGS. 8A-8C, 9A-9C, 10A-10B, 11, and 12 ) and a secondelectronic device (e.g., device 830 as shown in FIGS. 8A-8C, 9A-9C,10A-10B, 11, and 12 ). In some examples, the accessory device is aheadphone capable of performing near-field communication. In someexamples, the accessory device is wirelessly coupled to both the firstelectronic device and the second electronic device. In other examples,the accessory device is wirelessly coupled to the first electronicdevice, but not the second electronic device. Further, the firstelectronic device and the second electronic device are both capable ofoperating virtual assistants to process speech inputs. In some examples,the first electronic device is communicatively coupled to the secondelectronic device via near-field communication.

At block 1404, in response to receiving the speech input, whether thespeech input includes a trigger phrase is determined. For example,accessory device 820 as described above can determine whether a triggerphrase (e.g., “Hey Assistant”) is included in the received speech input.At block 1406, in accordance with a determination that the speech inputincludes a trigger phrase, a determination of whether a representationof the speech input is to be transmitted to the first electronic deviceor the second electronic device is obtained. In some examples, to makesuch a determination, at block 1408, whether the accessory device is inaudio communication with the first electronic device before receivingthe speech input is determined by at least one of the accessory deviceand the first electronic device. At block 1410, whether the accessorydevice is in audio communication with the first electronic device withina pre-determined time window before receiving the speech input isdetermined. At block 1412, in accordance with a determination that theaccessory device is in audio communication with the first electronicdevice before receiving the speech input, the representation of thespeech input is determined to be transmitted to the first electronicdevice but not the second electronic device. At block 1414, inaccordance with a determination that the accessory device is not inaudio communication with the first electronic device before receivingthe speech input, the representation of the speech input is determinednot to be transmitted to the first electronic device. An example of thedetermination of whether a representation of the speech input is to betransmitted to the first electronic device or the second electronicdevice based on the last audio communication is described in detailabove with respect to FIGS. 9A-9C.

With reference to FIG. 14B, in some examples, to determine whether arepresentation of the speech input is to be transmitted to the firstelectronic device or the second electronic device, at block 1416,whether the accessory device is wirelessly coupled to the firstelectronic device or the second electronic device is determined by theaccessory device. At block 1418, in accordance with a determination thatthe accessory device is wirelessly coupled to the first electronicdevice but not the second electronic device, the representation of thespeech input is determined to be transmitted to the first electronicdevice but not the second electronic device. At block 1420, inaccordance with a determination that the accessory device is notwirelessly coupled to the first electronic device, the representation ofthe speech input is determined not to be transmitted to the firstelectronic device. An example of the determination of whether arepresentation of the speech input is to be transmitted to the firstelectronic device or the second electronic device based on the couplingstatus of the devices is described in detail above with respect to FIG.10A.

At block 1422, the determination of whether the representation of thespeech input is to be transmitted to the first electronic device or thesecond electronic device is based on a pre-determined configuration(e.g., a configuration that first electronic device 800 is the defaultdevice for receiving the representation of a speech input). At block1424, the determination of whether the representation of the speechinput is to be transmitted to the first electronic device or the secondelectronic device is based on at least one of one or more statuses ofthe first electronic device and one or more statuses of the secondelectronic device. An example of the determination of whether arepresentation of the speech input is to be transmitted to the firstelectronic device or the second electronic device based on the one ormore statuses of the devices is described in detail above with respectto FIG. 10B.

At block 1426, in accordance with a determination that therepresentation of the speech input is to be transmitted to the firstelectronic device but not the second electronic device, therepresentation of the speech input is to be transmitted to the firstelectronic device.

With reference to FIG. 14C, at block 1428, in accordance with adetermination that the representation of the speech input is to betransmitted to the second electronic device but not the first electronicdevice, the representation of the speech input is transmitted to thesecond electronic device but not the first electronic device. Oneexample of transmitting the representation of the speech input to thesecond electronic device is described in detail above with respect toFIG. 11 .

At block 1430, audio data corresponding to performing a task inaccordance with the user request are received at the accessory device.At block 1432, the received audio data are outputted. In someembodiments, a third electronic device determines whether the task is tobe performed by the first electronic device or the second electronicdevice. The determination of whether the task is to be performed by thefirst electronic device or the second electronic device is based on oneor more of: intent derived from the representation of the user request;capability data associated with at least one of the first electronicdevice and the second electronic device; and user-specific data. Thecapability data comprises one or more of: device capability; applicationcapability; and informational capability. In some examples, the firstelectronic device is communicatively coupled to one or more additionalelectronic devices. Audio data corresponding to performing the task inaccordance with the user request are received at the accessory device. Athird electronic device determines whether the task is to be performedby one of the additional electronic device.

The operations described above with reference to FIGS. 13A-13B and14A-14C are optionally implemented by components depicted in FIGS. 1-4,6A-6B, and 7A-7C. For example, the operations of processes 1300 and/or1400 may be implemented by digital assistant module 726. It would beclear to a person having ordinary skill in the art how other processesare implemented based on the components depicted in FIGS. 1-4, 6A-6B,and 7A-7C.

In accordance with some implementations, a computer-readable storagemedium (e.g., a non-transitory computer readable storage medium) isprovided, the computer-readable storage medium storing one or moreprograms for execution by one or more processors of an electronicdevice, the one or more programs including instructions for performingany of the methods or processes described herein.

In accordance with some implementations, an electronic device (e.g., aportable electronic device) is provided that comprises means forperforming any of the methods or processes described herein.

In accordance with some implementations, an electronic device (e.g., aportable electronic device) is provided that comprises a processing unitconfigured to perform any of the methods or processes described herein.

In accordance with some implementations, an electronic device (e.g., aportable electronic device) is provided that comprises one or moreprocessors and memory storing one or more programs for execution by theone or more processors, the one or more programs including instructionsfor performing any of the methods or processes described herein.

The foregoing description, for purpose of explanation, has beendescribed with reference to specific embodiments. However, theillustrative discussions above are not intended to be exhaustive or tolimit the invention to the precise forms disclosed. Many modificationsand variations are possible in view of the above teachings. Theembodiments were chosen and described in order to best explain theprinciples of the techniques and their practical applications. Othersskilled in the art are thereby enabled to best utilize the techniquesand various embodiments with various modifications as are suited to theparticular use contemplated.

Although the disclosure and examples have been fully described withreference to the accompanying drawings, it is to be noted that variouschanges and modifications will become apparent to those skilled in theart. Such changes and modifications are to be understood as beingincluded within the scope of the disclosure and examples as defined bythe claims.

As described above, one aspect of the present technology is thegathering and use of data available from various sources to determinewhich electronic device is to perform the task user requested through anaccessory device. The present disclosure contemplates that in someinstances, this gathered data may include personal information data thatuniquely identifies or can be used to contact or locate a specificperson. Such personal information data can include demographic data,location-based data, telephone numbers, email addresses, twitter IDs,home addresses, data or records relating to a user's health or level offitness (e.g., vital signs measurements, medication information,exercise information), date of birth, or any other identifying orpersonal information.

The present disclosure recognizes that the use of such personalinformation data, in the present technology, can be used to the benefitof users. For example, the personal information data can be used todetermine which electronic device is to perform the task user requested.Further, other uses for personal information data that benefit the userare also contemplated by the present disclosure. For instance, healthand fitness data may be used to provide insights into a user's generalwellness, or may be used as positive feedback to individuals usingtechnology to pursue wellness goals.

The present disclosure contemplates that the entities responsible forthe collection, analysis, disclosure, transfer, storage, or other use ofsuch personal information data will comply with well-established privacypolicies and/or privacy practices. In particular, such entities shouldimplement and consistently use privacy policies and practices that aregenerally recognized as meeting or exceeding industry or governmentalrequirements for maintaining personal information data private andsecure. Such policies should be easily accessible by users, and shouldbe updated as the collection and/or use of data changes. Personalinformation from users should be collected for legitimate and reasonableuses of the entity and not shared or sold outside of those legitimateuses. Further, such collection/sharing should occur after receiving theinformed consent of the users. Additionally, such entities shouldconsider taking any needed steps for safeguarding and securing access tosuch personal information data and ensuring that others with access tothe personal information data adhere to their privacy policies andprocedures. Further, such entities can subject themselves to evaluationby third parties to certify their adherence to widely accepted privacypolicies and practices. In addition, policies and practices should beadapted for the particular types of personal information data beingcollected and/or accessed and adapted to applicable laws and standards,including jurisdiction-specific considerations. For instance, in the US,collection of or access to certain health data may be governed byfederal and/or state laws, such as the Health Insurance Portability andAccountability Act (HIPAA); whereas health data in other countries maybe subject to other regulations and policies and should be handledaccordingly. Hence different privacy practices should be maintained fordifferent personal data types in each country.

Despite the foregoing, the present disclosure also contemplatesembodiments in which users selectively block the use of, or access to,personal information data. That is, the present disclosure contemplatesthat hardware and/or software elements can be provided to prevent orblock access to such personal information data. For example, in the caseof gathering user-specific data, the present technology can beconfigured to allow users to select to “opt in” or “opt out” ofparticipation in the collection of personal information data duringregistration for services or anytime thereafter. In another example,users can select not to include any personal data in the user-specificdata. In yet another example, users can select to limit the length oftime personal data is maintained. In addition to providing “opt in” and“opt out” options, the present disclosure contemplates providingnotifications relating to the access or use of personal information. Forinstance, a user may be notified upon downloading an app that theirpersonal information data will be accessed and then reminded again justbefore personal information data is accessed by the app.

Moreover, it is the intent of the present disclosure that personalinformation data should be managed and handled in a way to minimizerisks of unintentional or unauthorized access or use. Risk can beminimized by limiting the collection of data and deleting data once itis no longer needed. In addition, and when applicable, including incertain health related applications, data de-identification can be usedto protect a user's privacy. De-identification may be facilitated, whenappropriate, by removing specific identifiers (e.g., date of birth,etc.), controlling the amount or specificity of data stored (e.g.,collecting location data at city level rather than at an address level),controlling how data is stored (e.g., aggregating data across users),and/or other methods.

Therefore, although the present disclosure broadly covers use ofpersonal information data to implement one or more various disclosedembodiments, the present disclosure also contemplates that the variousembodiments can also be implemented without the need for accessing suchpersonal information data. That is, the various embodiments of thepresent technology are not rendered inoperable due to the lack of all ora portion of such personal information data. For example, user-specificdata can be gathered based on non-personal information data or a bareminimum amount of personal information data, such as the content beingrequested by the device associated with a user, other non-personalinformation available to the electronic device gathering theuser-specific data, or publicly available information.

What is claimed is:
 1. A non-transitory computer-readable storage mediumstoring one or more programs configured to be executed by one or moreprocessors of an accessory device, the accessory device communicativelycoupled to at least one of a first electronic device and a secondelectronic device, the one or more programs including instructions for:receiving a speech input representing a user request; in response toreceiving the speech input, determining whether the speech inputincludes a trigger phrase; in accordance with a determination that thespeech input includes a trigger phrase, obtaining a determination ofwhether a representation of the speech input is to be transmitted to thefirst electronic device or the second electronic device; in accordancewith a determination that the representation of the speech input is tobe transmitted to the first electronic device but not the secondelectronic device, transmitting the representation of the speech inputto the first electronic device; receiving audio data corresponding toperforming a task in accordance with the user request; and outputtingthe received audio data.
 2. The non-transitory computer-readable storagemedium of claim 1, wherein the accessory device is a headphone capableof performing near-field communication.
 3. The non-transitorycomputer-readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein the accessorydevice is wirelessly coupled to both the first electronic device and thesecond electronic device.
 4. The non-transitory computer-readablestorage medium of claim 1, wherein the accessory device is wirelesslycoupled to the first electronic device, but not the second electronicdevice.
 5. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim1, wherein the first electronic device and the second electronic deviceare both capable of operating virtual assistants to process speechinputs.
 6. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim1, wherein the first electronic device and the second electronic deviceare communicatively coupled via near-field communication.
 7. Thenon-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein thedetermination of whether the representation of the speech input is to betransmitted to the first electronic device or the second electronicdevice comprises: determining, by at least one of the accessory deviceand the first electronic device, whether the accessory device is inaudio communication with the first electronic device before receivingthe speech input; in accordance with a determination that the accessorydevice is in audio communication with the first electronic device beforereceiving the speech input, determining that the representation of thespeech input is to be transmitted to the first electronic device but notthe second electronic device; and in accordance with a determinationthat the accessory device is not in audio communication with the firstelectronic device before receiving the speech input, determining thatthe representation of the speech input is not to be transmitted to thefirst electronic device.
 8. The non-transitory computer-readable storagemedium of claim 7, wherein determining whether the accessory device isin audio communication with the first electronic device before receivingthe speech input comprises: determining whether the accessory device isin audio communication with the first electronic device within apre-determined time window before receiving the speech input.
 9. Thenon-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein thedetermination of whether the representation of the speech input is to betransmitted to the first electronic device or the second electronicdevice comprises: determining, by the accessory device, whether theaccessory device is wirelessly coupled to the first electronic device orthe second electronic device; in accordance with a determination thatthe accessory device is wirelessly coupled to the first electronicdevice but not the second electronic device, determining that therepresentation of the speech input is to be transmitted to the firstelectronic device but not the second electronic device; and inaccordance with a determination that the accessory device is notwirelessly coupled to the first electronic device, determining that therepresentation of the speech input is not to be transmitted to the firstelectronic device.
 10. The non-transitory computer-readable storagemedium of claim 1, wherein the determination of whether therepresentation of the speech input is to be transmitted to the firstelectronic device or the second electronic device is based on apre-determined configuration.
 11. The non-transitory computer-readablestorage medium of claim 1, wherein the determination of whether therepresentation of the speech input is to be transmitted to the firstelectronic device or the second electronic device is based on at leastone of one or more statuses of the first electronic device and one ormore statuses of the second electronic device.
 12. The non-transitorycomputer-readable storage medium of claim 1, the one or more programsfurther including instructions for: in accordance with a determinationthat the representation of the speech input is to be transmitted to thesecond electronic device but not the first electronic device,transmitting the representation of the speech input to the secondelectronic device but not the first electronic device.
 13. Thenon-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein athird electronic device determines whether the task is to be performedby the first electronic device or the second electronic device.
 14. Thenon-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 13, wherein thedetermination of whether the task is to be performed by the firstelectronic device or the second electronic device is based on one ormore of: intent derived from the representation of the user request;capability data associated with at least one of the first electronicdevice and the second electronic device; and user-specific data.
 15. Thenon-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 14, wherein thecapability data comprises one or more of: device capability; applicationcapability; and informational capability.
 16. The non-transitorycomputer-readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein the firstelectronic device is communicatively coupled to one or more additionalelectronic devices, further comprising: receiving audio datacorresponding to performing the task in accordance with the userrequest, wherein a third electronic device determines whether the taskis to be performed by one of the additional electronic devices.
 17. Amethod for disambiguating a speech input, comprising: at an accessorydevice communicatively coupled to at least one of a first electronicdevice and a second electronic device: receiving a speech inputrepresenting a user request; in response to receiving the speech input,determining whether the speech input includes a trigger phrase; inaccordance with a determination that the speech input includes a triggerphrase, obtaining a determination of whether a representation of thespeech input is to be transmitted to the first electronic device or thesecond electronic device; in accordance with a determination that therepresentation of the speech input is to be transmitted to the firstelectronic device but not the second electronic device, transmitting therepresentation of the speech input to the first electronic device;receiving audio data corresponding to performing a task in accordancewith the user request; and outputting the received audio data.
 18. Anaccessory electronic device communicatively coupled to at least one of afirst electronic device and a second electronic device, comprising: oneor more processors; a microphone; and memory storing one or moreprograms configured to be executed by the one or more processors, theone or more programs including instructions for: receiving a speechinput representing a user request; in response to receiving the speechinput, determining whether the speech input includes a trigger phrase;in accordance with a determination that the speech input includes atrigger phrase, obtaining a determination of whether a representation ofthe speech input is to be transmitted to the first electronic device orthe second electronic device; in accordance with a determination thatthe representation of the speech input is to be transmitted to the firstelectronic device but not the second electronic device, transmitting therepresentation of the speech input to the first electronic device;receiving audio data corresponding to performing a task in accordancewith the user request; and outputting the received audio data.